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?

The End of September

Wow it sure has been a busy month here.  I can't believe the last time I wrote here was way back in August.  The weather is turning colder, the leaves are starting to change, and I all of a sudden have cravings for apple cider and pumpkin bread.  Can you believe how bright and happy these mums are?  There's nothing like a big pot of mums to celebrate fall coming.

I bought some in every color for my mom's birthday:

I think this fall is going to be great.  I'm about to start working on a fun crocheted baby afghan for a friend who's expecting, I've got about three different knit cowls going, and also some knit fingerless mitts. 

I even had time for a nature walk one evening after I mowed the lawn.  I love the way this grass looks near sunset.

Today I decided to make a fall themed treasury on Etsy, just because thinking about fall makes me happy and relaxed.  If you want to look at these great items closer, just click on the image below and you'll be able to peruse their shops.

I'm not usually big on making treasuries but it sure is a fun way to network and chat with other sellers on Etsy.  I'm definitely finding a bunch of new favorite artists and makers from this group of items.  I think each of these items makes me want to go rake some leaves, pick some apples, and make a fire in the wood stove.  Yeah, it really is finally fall here in Kentucky.

I saw this sweet orange cat recently while stopped at a gas station with my mom.  He was very friendly and totally comfortable just hanging out while people pumped their gas.  I wonder what his name is.

Last month I went to a drag race and a mud race at the county fair.  It was so cool!

This big pack of turkeys hangs out in the yard in the mornings and in the evenings now.  Poking around for caterpillars I guess.  Not sure what they eat.  It was a pretty big deal though, every one of our cats was looking out the window and even my dog too that day.  They continue to be the top news story around here, among the cats.

I worked on a very cool family craft project with my mom and my sister.  We made these very bright and happy stepping stones with glass pieces and concrete.

 Here you can see the planning stage where the pieces are set up on paper first. 

 

Here's what it looked like after we mixed up the cement and put the pieces on top.  I need to go take a picture of them all now that they've dried.  They all look very pretty and sparkle very nice in the sun.

Later I took pictures as my mom and sister planted some small trees in the yard.  Cats helped, in their own special way.

On a random side note, it's a little bittersweet to not be participating in the local holiday arts and crafts fair this year, but at the same time I'm so relieved!  It's a whole lotta work crammed into just a little bit of time... and I am excited to be able to take the fall and winter seasons at a slower, more relaxed pace this year.  Come this December I'll be kicking back in the recliner, nice and warm by the fire, knitting and crocheting fun things instead of turning into an assembly line of manic production for my booth inventory.  Maybe next year I'll try again, just to see if it's for me.

Meanwhile I've listed some great child legwarmers in my shop.  I think these fun stripes are so cheerful.  I'm thinking about inventing an adult fingerless mitt or full mitten from these.

I hope everyone out there is having a nice fall and getting to do some relaxing, comforting things.