*FALL SALE*

Just a quick Little Red Whimsy update:

All fall items are reduced $2 or more!

Place an order for $20 or more this weekend and receive a free gnome (my choice, sorry!) and wooden acorn (while supplies last!). No coupon code neccissary! This is also for custom orders of $20 or more placed between now and Halloween!

Trying to find homes for all these autumn gnomes... because Christmas is creeping up so quickly! :)

Pumpkining

It seems that everything has been revolving around pumpkins here the past few days! And my belly is starting to closely resemble the "Great Pumpkin" just in time for Halloween. I am just hoping it less resembles the great pumpkin by Thanksgiving. Oy. On Sunday we were invited to a Pumpkin Carving (painting) party where we saw all of Anastasia's friends that she "missed so much". Food and toddlers and paint make for lots of messy fun.Yesterday we finally went to the Pumpkin Patch. Sadly, our weekends have been so packed and busy preparing for winter, and a late-fall baby, and the like that we weren't able to go as a family this year. Yesterday we went to Great Country Farm with our friends Stephanie, Stella and Charlie. Our group was supposed to be bigger, but it rained on our drive out and most everyone except us cancelled. Thankfully the clouds broke and we had a perfect, warm, day at an empty, fun pumpkin patch!
This pot-bellied pig, Elmer, won my heart. He was the cutest pig I have ever seen. As in, pick up and snuggle cute. Really. And I am not a pig-person.And can I just confess a bit here, I broke the rules and jumped on this pillow:

It said it was for 12 and under. But that is only if you get caught right? I didn't really jump being 38 weeks pregnant and all (not that anyone is really counting or anything...) but it was kind of fun lightly bouncing. It was definitely the girls favorite part of our day! There were many animals (none as cute as Elmer of course) but I was too busy keeping the kids from getting their fingers eaten to photograph them all. But I did get these cuties on the Hayride: Holy cow they are cute. It was a fun day, and the kids slept well, and I got Chinese food on the way home for dinner. And this evening I made Butternut Harvest Soup, Pumpkin Bread and we carved the pumpkins:It was a bit too close to bedtime for Isabel, but I think the girls enjoyed it. And this is how they turned out:Nick always makes the neatest pumpkins! His is the mountains and bats and moon one in the middle. I carved a little face for Anastasia on the right, and an owl (that you can barely see) for Isabel after she went to bed.

Don't you just love pumpkining? Now I just need to make a pie! :)

In case you didn't see....

I made my first Gnomey Nativity Set-- NOW IN MY SHOP! It is also discounted $10 due to a bit of a mess-up on my Shellac job. I am so proud of this little set. I hope to have several more available before Christmas... but you know how it goes with 2 little ones... and an even littler one coming soon.

My lovely friend Sharon needle felted the manger and sheep to complete this set and they just add so much! Check out her Etsy shop, WoolenWhimsy for the cutest little hats, hair clips and bags. She can also do custom items for you! :)

I think the elfish looking shepherd is my favorite. Or maybe the 3 Kings...

Can you imagine what song went through my head as I made these?

I am so in love with this, I hate to see it go... but I am sure I will have one gracing our nature table before long.

ALSO, have you noticed my other sale items? Autumn Gnomes and Fall Fairies are on sale until the end of the month! So get 'em while they're hot! I am running low on some of the hat sweaters so what you see may be all thats left! But Christmas gnomes and Sugar Plum Fairies are dancing around in my head! :)

We are finally well. And little baby boy is happy and healthy and the excitement to meet him is building! I am looking forward to another beautiful fall weekend! Happy Friday everyone! :)

Just Soupy.

Things are calming down around here, mainly because we all came down with a cold. On Friday evening, the girls and I came down with runny, sneezy noses within an hour of each other. Poor Isabel has been sacked the hardest, battling a fever last night, and a bit today. I was hoping today we would all be well, that the girls could run around outside in their party dresses for me to photograph, that I would be taking pictures of some new things for my shop, and that I would have finished all my custom orders, and would be making a baby quilt. Instead I am tending to all my sicklings, including Nick who is home sick on this overcast Monday. Thankfully I am feeling much better today, and able to handle all the tea and soup making and little -feverish-child snuggling required of a mama. Until we are better... have a lovely week! :)

The Very Busy Weekend

We had a very fun, and very busy weekend! On Saturday I had my much-anticipated table at our local "Festival of Leaves" with my neighbor and it was a busy day! It was a lot of work for the amount of sales I ended up making, but I used my funds to take my family to the Maryland Renaissance Faire.

It has been about 4 years since my last trip to the Rennaisance Faire, so it was really exciting going back, and taking our little "princessies" (as Anastasia fondly calls princesses). Unfortunately it was very crowded when we arrived around 2pm, but calmed down after we took a little break, got the stroller and enjoyed some Italian Ices (my personal favorite faire food!).

Nothing could compare to the wonder on Anastasia's face when she got to ride a pony and talk to a "real" princessie. She was also so thrilled when a tribe of leaf people walked by and handed her an acorn. That acorn is now a sacred treasure.

It was really nice making the day pretty special for our little girl with her big imagination! I was also thrilled to score some new pottery at a little shop with inexpensive pottery! I wish I had bought more!! Nick was happy with his hard cider and an italian sausage sandwich.

And yesterday was a recovery day. A few friends of mine hosted a shower for me and another mom who is also having her third child. It was nice to recieve 2 of the things I had yet to make, burp cloths and receiving blankets. So now I just need to buy some diapers and make some wool pants and covers and I will be all set for the little guy!

Isabel's Birthday!

Yesterday Isabel turned 2. We had a nice family party at my parent's house. Just her style with bird decor and undivided attention of doting grandparents, uncles and aunts. We tried to make it really special for her, and I think we succeeded. :)Nick and I thanked God for our Isabel... and that she made it to the age of 2! lol. Our poor accident prone daughter frightens me sometimes with her ability to hurt herself in new ways everyday. But she is tough and resiliant. She is a sweet girl with a big heart and a great sense of humor. She loves making us laugh and is not afraid to try new things. She is very smart and wants to know how everything works. We love out Isabel, and we are so glad she had such a lovely birthday!I was having slight regrets about spending four hours of my life on her cake this Saturday. The colors weren't what I was hoping, but Isabel was completely enchanted by it. She kept opening the fridge and asking us to come look at her cake. I think it was entirely worth it now. And the girl's dresses turned out fantastic. I didn't take any great pictures of them, but I will. Someday when its sunny and warm outside! :) Isabel had so much fun opening presents until her sister hit her in the eye with a book. Poor girl. She can't avoid injuries even on her birthday. She also is obsessed with candles and cakes and sings her own version of "Happy Birthday" that goes, "Happy to you you you (Mommy)" everytime someone lights a candle. She was mezmorized by her own cake, and was in little toddler Heaven when everyone sang to her and her getting to blow out her candles.

Nick surprised her with 10 balloons. Balloons are another one of her obsessions. Really, it couldn't have gotten any better for our sweet girl. :) Now I hope and pray she makes it to 3! :) Anastasia already has lots of plans for her 4th birthday which is now the talk of the day!

Happy Monday! I must now get back to cleaning up the carnage from all the party prepping, etc...

A Series of WIPs

Painting, Stitching, Knitting, Sewing, Glueing, Pasting, Planning, Sketching. I feel as though my life is a series of "works in progress" right now. My entire house is reflective of all the incompleted projects coming together over the next week. The above picture is the top of my microwave: painted stools, tables and mushrooms ready to be sanded a bit and packaged into little sets.

My once-clean sewing room is littered with fabric and trims, scissors, glue and pins as I am cutting up and sewing "Tweet" dresses for Isabel's birthday this Sunday. I am dreaming of finishing them, and little doll dresses in coordinating colors, and possibly a birthday crown? I am so over-ambitious which is probably the reason most of my works are only "in progress" these days. I think I need a maid and some employees who work for free.

These watercolored apples and number "2" in all their blurriness are sitting beside my kitchen sink. The apples are for the "Festival of Leaves" and I am hoping to find away to stand that 2 on top of Isabel's cake... WITH a bird on top. Hmmm:

I sketched out my cake idea... and its amazing. BUT I am not a cake decorator. Its not my talent or gift or even something I really love. My best laid plans get completely smothered by icing of the wrong consistancy... cakes that fall apart, and flowers that are usually funny looking blobs. I hope THIS TUTORIAL helps me a bit. A multitude of sins is covered by a few spoonfuls of buttercream frosting. That is why I make cakes. For buttercream frosting. YUM. And the decorations have been bought... Now just to figure out a nice centerpiece! Unfinished bird houses, mossy rocks (super cute from the $ store!!), spanish moss, felted birds, and leaves! oh my! I set them out on the kids table hoping they will have fun with them while I sew... which is really what I should be doing right now...