littlegreenbums

Sneaky, sneaky me.

2012-02-13T14:46:00.001-06:00

In the girls' room, there's a little room adjacent to the closet that most people would use for storage. My kids claimed it for a playspace--- in spite of its dark, creepy interior--- the moment they discovered its existence. I've been hoping to do a mini-remodel on the DL for ages, and last week I did the deal. This is pretty much what the interior looked like when I started. Studs

Shepping Nachas

2012-02-05T08:56:00.001-06:00

According to Treppenwitz, 'shepping nachas' can be roughly translated as a combination of deriving great pleasure from something and being extremely proud of someone... for example; when a friend or loved one does something exemplary. We shepped, big time. Chevi (#5) had her siddur party at school last night. (For those of you who think I've suddenly lapsed into gibberish, a siddur is a

Milestone

2012-02-02T22:05:00.000-06:00

We bought our van three days before Akiva was born. Today, we broke 100,000 miles. I am feeling very old.

Picnic in January?

2012-02-01T14:35:00.000-06:00

When my littles came home from school yesterday afternoon, the sun was shining and it was a balmy 51 degrees outside. Chevi had managed to wangle a much-coveted afterschool playdate, so we pushed off homework and chores in favor of a romp in the (almost warm and entirely concrete-paved) backyard. Then, in a fit of silly, I conceded to their pleas for a picnic supper. The three dined al

Sneaky me.

2012-01-30T17:59:00.000-06:00

I am a terrible gift-giver. I put a tremendous amount of thought into choosing a present. Then I wrap it with care and, on a good day, a little ingenuity. And then I am overwhelmed by the NEED to give the gift RightThatVerySecond. Which leaves me giftless and kind of dumb-looking when the actual occasion for gift-giving rolls around. (And in the unlikely event that I manage to restrain

Sugar High---Jelly Belly Warehouse Trip

2012-01-23T18:34:00.000-06:00

We set the GPS for our destination and headed off for adventure. Seriously. Jelly Belly Lane....how's that for an address? We had no problem finding the place---it's not exactly what you'd call nondescript. (And, no, it wasn't actually that gray today. I think my windshield may be in need of a vigorous scrubdown.) Once inside, the kiddos were enthralled by the vast variety of

Busy, busy...

2012-01-23T09:39:00.000-06:00

I've had my nose to the grindstone of late, cranking out all kinds of pink earrings. But now my kiddos are on Winter Break, so we're off to the Jelly Belly Warehouse. I'm not actually a fan of jelly beans, but I love factory-tour type thingies, so this should be fun. Pics forthcoming...

Global Climate Change: Right in My Backyard

2012-01-14T20:12:00.001-06:00

It's been a wacky, wacky winter. We had a sprinkling of snow back in November, and since then, nuthin'. So I wasn't too stunned when last Tuesday's forecast called for sunny skies and temps in the mid-fifties, although thirties had been the norm for a few months. I rounded up the troops and the spray paint, and took care of some projects that have been languishing on the back burner,

2012: Mindful

2012-01-11T10:52:00.000-06:00

Maxabella loves is having a blog link up focusing on one word for 2012. I let this one rattle around in the old noggin for awhile and came up with a bunch of good ideas---which other, more expedient bloggers had already used. (Perhaps I should choose "timely" as my word instead?) So I put it on the back burner for a day or so, and settled on mindful. I find, as my kids get older,

My 300th Post...and a Virtual Temper Tantrum

2012-01-07T19:38:00.000-06:00

Yup, this is the big 3-0-0. You'd think I'd have held out for something a little less crass than on online hissy fit, but not so much. I got this great custom order last week. This very nice lady from across the pond wanted me to make her a keychain like this one, but with her kids' names on it. No problem. So I went out to the hardware store, grabbed a box of washers, and got

Studio Tour: Up close, personal, and un-edited.

2012-01-03T17:55:00.001-06:00

I'm a lucky girl: I finally have a room of my own, and it's even heated. The house we bought in Milwaukee is a duplex that we use as a single family home. My studio is the upstairs kitchen, which means it's got oodles of cabinets, a double sink, and lots of space. My workbench is nestled in the nook where the stove should go. Love the task lighting! Lots of Dictionary Sacrifice

In which I bear precious little resemblance to Charles Dickens

2012-01-02T19:27:00.001-06:00

I never could have done what I have done without the habits of punctuality, order, and diligence, without the determination to concentrate myself on one subject at a time. ~Charles Dickens Well, we can add those to the list of ways old Chuck and I differ. Wish he was here to organize the studio, post these listings, and make beads today...

All's Quiet on the (Mid)Western Front.

2012-01-01T16:05:00.000-06:00

Not a lot going on at the moment. We're doing the dailies, of course, and waiting for snow. Other than that, things are slow. It's been gray and overcast for most of the week, making for lousy picture-taking conditions as well as an acute case of homebody-itis. I had an death-defying bout of what we'll politely call "gastro" last week, and actually went so far as to spend a full day in bed

Craft Show III, ADD, and Me.

2011-12-26T16:54:00.000-06:00

It's been a busy week. Sunday, I did my third show, which I helped to coordinate. Had some new tricks up my sleeve, including the nifty stamps I used on my once-plain brown paper bags. The setup is essentially the same as it was last time... ...but there are a bunch of things I'm looking to change up. My bunting is starting to look kind of rumpled, which is not quite the image I'm

A Pair of Maxims

2011-12-20T19:06:00.001-06:00

In this house, we have a saying. He who fries the latkes eats the broken ones. Oy. Not a whole lot of them made it to the table tonight. Another saying: She who makes the earrings doesn't get to keep them all. Dang it. .

%(^$&! I Screwed Up Again! (or "Momma's Got a New Keychain.")

2011-12-19T16:32:00.000-06:00

I'm slaving away like a madwoman to get ready for my Show Number Three, and here's what I've got to show for it: And this. (Keep Calm and Pay Attention, Woman!) And this. (Tricky, no?) And, embarrassingly, this. (Failure to plan...) I take significant pride in the fact that I'm a spell-check with a pulse, but apparently this neurosis talent does not carry over to metal. I've got

Her Creative Space

2011-12-14T21:07:00.000-06:00

I have a work area set up for the kiddos in my studio, mostly to keep us all from losing it. But last week, while I was getting ready for show #2, I put a couple of displays on their work table. So Shani was left to her own devices when it came to finding a place to work. Luckily, she's a resourceful little thing.

Pinata Postmortem

2011-12-13T13:55:00.000-06:00

It would be wrong to say the pinata was a hit, right? But the littles loved it, and they delivered some very satisfying---and effective---thwacks to its shaggy exterior, squealing with glee when it spilled its candy-filled guts. And was it worth all of the work? (Because you must realize that although the finished product looks as though it was slapped together by a preschooler in need of

Craft Show #2: Done!

2011-12-10T23:05:00.001-06:00

The "after" isn't a whole lot different from the "before," is it? This was a terrific show---my second, for those of you who've just tuned in or aren't paying attention---and I'm still trying to get my proverbial act together. I made a bunch of sales, though, and people had lots of nice things to say about my work, so it was a success in my book, hands down . Check out my new bunting! Yup,

Pre-Craft-Show Madness

2011-12-08T20:26:00.001-06:00

My Creative Space: All Work and No Play.

2011-12-01T16:20:00.001-06:00

Busy as a little bee getting these goodies into the shop! Need a name for these. Anyone?

A Very Potter Present

2011-11-28T15:44:00.001-06:00

I was trying to think of something cute to give Esti, my eldest, for Chanukah. She's completely Potter-obsessed, so here's what I came up with. Which spawned this: And this: And this, which is a spin-off of the first attempt at "Team Harry" that had too much space between the e and the a. I crack myself up. Some of these will probably make their way into the shop tonight...and

Catching up: a tale of suspense, adenoids, bilateral myringotomy and grape icepops.

2011-11-25T07:27:00.001-06:00

So the thrower-upper had her surgery as scheduled on Tuesday, thank goodness---I wasn't looking forward at all to the possibility of delaying it just because of a bed-ful of pukey sheets and a 6 hour stomach bug. We were instructed to arrive at the surgicenter at 11:45, and surgery was supposed to commence around one. Cleverly, I brought a stash of work goodies to keep me entertained, and my

You know it's going to be one of those days...

2011-11-21T14:17:00.001-06:00

when your six-year-old (the one who's scheduled for surgery tomorrow) wakes you at 6 in the morning by puking in your bed.

Sunday was...

2011-11-20T17:18:00.001-06:00

...functional. Lots of laundry, lots of dishes, a little picture-taking, a little jewelry-making. In a Pod (coming soon to the shop, unless I decide I have to keep them!) Some erranding, some baking, and a little work on theEtsy shop. Some odds and ends got done around the house: hook hanging, shelf-building, and the like, but I was more of a consultant than an actual participant on

Happy Blog-day to Me and a Goody Bag Giveaway

2011-11-19T17:46:00.001-06:00

I almost missed it. And then, this afternoon, I remembered that my wedding anniversary (17 years today!) is also my blogiversary, and I figured it would be sporting of me to post something. So here I am, looking at the big oh-two. Two years of throwing it all out there, and being amazed and delighted at what's come back. To celebrate, I've decided to have a little give-away, but I haven't

First Craft Show: Debriefing

2011-11-15T19:37:00.000-06:00