I've Moved

My blog is now located here:

http://janeyinthemeadow.tumblr.com/

Hop on over there and see the new look!  :)

I won't be posting anymore from my old blog venue, and it will eventually be deleted.  Thanks for following along with me, I look forward to seeing you over at the new location.  :)



-Laura

New blog venue under construction

Hello readers, please bear with me as I work on creating my new blog site.  I'll have it up and running soon and I'll be sure to put the new link here when it's finished.

Happy New Year

I'm sitting here drinking a nice warm cup of tension tamer tea and breathing a huge sigh of relief and pride right now--I just completed my sales tax form for the last quarter of 2013.  Got the check filled out, put a stamp on the envelope and it's now ready to be mailed out tomorrow!  Way ahead of my usual practice of waiting until the day before (or of) the deadline, frantically asking my sister for white-out because I messed up the form... this time I started in PENCIL--what an awesome feeling to have that done.  It really feels like 2013 is over, officially, now.

I realized today that I haven't blogged since before Christmas.  This holiday was the busiest I think I've ever been.  I had great intentions of blogging throughout it, as evidenced by my thought of sharing my favorite Christmas songs in my last post... that never happened because I was either knitting for my new online store, knitting for a Christmas gift, or running to the post office to ship some Etsy orders.  After I closed my shops for the holiday break I pretty much completely disengaged from my computer, the internet, and the world in general to relax and spoil myself with some fun projects for myself, as well as some slacking off time that I REALLY needed.  I haven't even been taking any pictures, which is why this blog post is missing the sparkly and magical photos I usually include.

I kept reading other bloggers' posts about the 2013 year in review and it really inspired me to compose a similar post.  I'm looking through my photos on my laptop right now, getting very inspired and happy about all the things that have happened and that I accomplished in 2013.  I plan on taking my time working on that post though, because its got a a lot going on in it.  I've learned not to promise you an upcoming blog post--I seem to get overwhelmed pretty often after a big event--I have this exciting blog post in my head (like the one I thought I'd share about the art fair, way back in August) but it never seems to get typed and published...

It sure has been cold here in our corner of Kentucky these past few days.  Even as I sit here and type this my fingers are not warm enough and they're not typing very well.  Last night as I was heading to bed I checked the thermometer and it said -1 degrees.  No telling what the wind chill was--I don't even want to know anymore.

This picture was from when Janey was modeling a cat scarf for my shop, looking thoughtfully out the window.

My cat, Janey, is getting cabin fever because I've been keeping her indoors the past couple days during this polar vortex.  She usually likes to go out with my dog Gilbert and I in the morning--and Gilbert has had to suffer through wearing the little winter coat I found at the Goodwill a couple years ago. 

These temps remind me of growing up in northern Michigan and how me and my sister would have to wake up really early and walk to the bus stop and stand in this kind of cold, when we were in Junior High, and we lived very close to the bay, in Traverse City.  Makes me remember that we are strong women though, and that we can survive just fine in the negative temps.

My sister took this picture of me and my dog Gilbert as we braved the frigid temps of the polar vortex yesterday

What a fun New Year's Eve we had this year.  My sister and I went up to my granny's house and they taught me how to play Euchre.  We ate junk food and tooted our noisemaker horns and then watched the ball drop at midnight.  It was so fun, I think we're making it our official New Year's tradition.

We played cards out in my granny's little quilting barn, which is a cozy little shed-type building that sits beside her house and stays very warm with the wood stove going.  She always has a lot of finished quilt tops hanging on hooks and a work in progress on the frames too.  My mind just started whirring when I was there, looking at all the pretty fabric and different quilt blocks (she was working on one called the bear claw) and I got a very cool idea for a new project inspired by the quilts and the fabrics that I plan on beginning soon.  I'll share the finished idea with you later on.  :)

I hope your mind is whirring too--and that you're feeling excited and invigorated that we're beginning a new year.  Everyone stay warm out there, and don't forget to leave your cupboard doors open under the sink... :)  I'm off to stoke the wood stove and try to get warm!

Another Christmas Treasury

Today I'm sharing this awesomely Christmasy treasury I was just featured in...

I think it's my favorite one so far!  Perfect mix of red, green, and white!  The maker of this treasury is Ginette Brosseau, of Montreal.  A very talented photographer whose work you can check out here in her shop on Etsy.

I'm listening to Christmas music today and sitting here knitting up a big batch of cat scarves.  I just came up with a fun idea for tomorrow's post: my top ten favorite Christmas songs.  Can't wait to share them on here with you.  Hope everyone has a happy Monday today!  Drive safe if you have to go out...a lot of us are getting some really wintery weather.  :)

Getting in the Christmas Mood

I've really been getting in the Christmas mood around here.  I painted my nails the other day, to look festive and sparkly for the holiday craft fair I helped out at yesterday.  What a fun but very busy day it was.  It's always fun seeing everyone all dressed up in their most shimmery, sequined and Christmasy colored sweaters, scarves, earrings and pins.

I've been knitting these red and green cat scarves pretty much constantly.  And listening to Christmas music while I work.  Also watching the occasional Christmas movie!  Today I put in While You Were Sleeping, one of my favorites.  It's the perfect blend of 1990s, winter, single woman with a cat in a cute, tiny apartment in the big city, happy-lovey welcoming family vibe, and romantic comedy. 

 
I keep seeing Sandra Bullock's sweaters, scarves, and hats in this movie and wanting to knit them to wear for myself!

Everyone seems to love the little scarves I'm making and I've even received some very cute customer images of faraway kitties modeling their new scarves! 

Photo Credit: Christina C.

Photo Credit: Kelly W.

It is so cool to think about my little knit creations traveling to places I've never been.  (These two lucky kitties are from way out west!)  I bet there are some really embarrassed and/or annoyed felines walking around wearing these this month, but it is worth it, seeing how darn cute they look.

And I love this Etsy treasury I was included in.  The colors are so cheerful.

 It was called "Country Christmas" and was created by Cyndie, who runs the very neat shop called Vintage Envy on Etsy.

It is looking so wintery outside today.  It's the perfect day to be inside where it's warm, listening to Christmas music and knitting.  Right now my cat Janey is curled up in a ball, sleeping peacefully.  So peacefully she was starting to twitch her mouth, like she was dreaming about drinking something really good, like warm milk or eggnog or something!  :) 

I hope you are all staying warm and happy out there, whatever you are up to on this very wintery Sunday afternoon.  I'm planning some relaxing activities this week, making hand drawn Christmas cards for friends and family, and maybe baking some cookies or trying out a new holiday nail polish design.  Have a great week and try not to get too overwhelmed with the holiday busyness!

Winter Day at Home

Today was a very wintery feeling day.  It wasn't snowing, but the day was so dim and cloudy and cold, I was glad I didn't have to run to town or be outside very long in it. 

 I was feeling pretty inspired looking around Etsy today and decided to make a treasury:

It's somehow comforting, yet unbelievable that it's already December.  I did a lot of processing today about the change of course my life has taken this past year. 

The change of course has been for the better.  I feel like I've gotten back in touch with what's important to me and it's hard to look back and not get emotional at how far I've come from where I was last year around this time.

Last year on this day I was running my first craft booth at my local holiday arts and crafts fair, selling my knit and crochet things, and hand drawn holiday cards.  I was in a pretty stressed out mental place.  I had just ended a long and dysfunctional relationship and was struggling to find myself again. 

Then

Now

I had a lot of hard work to do on myself and it's really paid off.  I'm so thankful that I have a close family who have really supported me this past year.

I am proud of the new person I'm becoming as I continue to make wise choices and not beat myself up about my past decisions.  I'm excited about my plans for my future. 

I hope your year is ending on a thoughtful and glad note, like mine is.  I know we have a whole month yet until the new year is here, but I'm already feeling the fact that this year is coming to a close.

My new venture into making sweet things for pets is well on its way.  I recently opened a new Etsy shop called Janey in the Meadow.  I named it after my dear cat Janey, who is almost 10 years old now. 

She is a special companion to me and has been through a lot.  I adopted her as a kitten from the humane society in 2004.  She has a very feisty and bold personality and will not think twice about biting if she doesn't like what's going on.  She's a tough girl and she loves to run around outside and take walks with my dog Gilbert and me.  She likes to hunt field mice out here in the country, and her favorite flavor of canned cat food is turkey with cheese.

I was petting her one day, about two weeks ago, as she was curled up on my bed and I thought how cute she would look with a little winter scarf on.  I immediately went to work knitting her a sparkly royal blue tiny scarf and just couldn't stop smiling when I finished it and put it on her.  Let me be clear, Janey was not smiling...just me.  My sister thought it was a cool idea and militantly encouraged me to make more of them and put them up for sale so other people could love them too.  So I did.  I worked very hard to knit up a quick inventory and open a new shop devoted to pets, and on November 15th I opened for business.  It's been nonstop ever since.

I'm so glad to be making these cute things.  I somehow don't get tired of knitting these precious little scarves for cats.  Janey has been my faithful model, for all the new color designs.  And my mom's cats, Lynxy and Molly, have helped out too. 

I have a dog scarf design in the works... and Gilbert will be modeling that for me soon.  Yesterday a customer sent me a picture of her cat wearing one of my scarves and I was so giddy I couldn't contain it.  It is so cool to be able to make things I love and share that with other people who love them too!

I'm already brainstorming some future designs for Valentine's Day and spring that I can't wait to get started on.  I wonder how long Janey is going to tolerate this?

Magical, Sparkly, and Cute Ornaments: Now Available

I've been very busy over here, knitting up a storm of Christmas-y goodness, and I wanted to stop and share some very cheerful photos of all the new ornaments and holiday items up for sale now in my store, The Hand-Stitched Starship, over on Etsy. 

Lacy Crochet Gold and Silver Snowflake and Medallion Ornaments

This big gold one is my favorite.

Wonderful Sparkly Granny Square Ornaments

Tiny Green Owl Ornament

Tiny Red Owl Ornament

Peppermint Baby or Toddler Legwarmers

At the moment, all I have time for is sharing these festive photos.  Things have picked up so quickly with my new venture (will share with you soon!) that I have to get right back to work now! I hope everyone is having a great day and looking forward to a fun Thanksgiving like I am!