A Nice Peaceful Christmas

I didn't take a lot of pictures. I just wanted to enjoy the day with the kiddos. We had a really nice day. Despite an awful sinus headache, and the strangeness of not celebrating our holiday with any of our extended family, I managed to make it through the day! I made us a yummy super low fat/low carb/sugar free dinner and dessert.

The kids loved their new toys! Although, I think opening the gifts was way more exciting for them than anything else. Santa was good to us! The only regret is that the day goes by too darn fast. So now, we enjoy our new goodies and our time together and look forward to ending this year and moving on to a whole new year full of fun and excitement!

Happy Holidays!

I hope everyone out there has a lovely holiday season. I feel so lucky just to have my little family with me to celebrate this year. We've had quite a year and I am ready to see it out with a quiet and peaceful week of just enjoying my time with Mark and the kiddos. I send big hugs and kisses to all of you and a gooey candy covered gingerbread house too!

Another Day of Awesomeness

I finished up my last craft show of the year! The "Not Too Late Craft Fair "was an awesome experience and I hope I will be able to do it again next year. It was very inspiring to be among such incredible artists all day. I met a lot of wonderful people and let in some holiday cheer too. Now I look forward to a future of last minute Christmas shopping and custom order finishing. Hopefully, with a sip of eggnog here and there:)

I Sure Do Miss The Rain

It's been beautiful here during the last couple of weeks. Sunshine and blue sky with super chilly nights, and a little fog here and there. The trouble is, that when it is sunny here, I feel it is my duty to be outside with my kids, not stuck inside the house sewing and carryin' on and such. We should be out PLAYIN' IN THE SUN!!!! Fortunately/Unfortunately I am pretty busy right now with lots o' different things. I am preparing for my next fair and trying to work on some custom orders in between. I miss the rain for that reason. Work. I need to get a lot done and the rain is all I need to keep me from daydreaming about frothy coffee drinks and playing in the park. I just work, then play a little bit, then work again. I need that right now. Plus, there is nothing like hangin' out in the big chair drinking hot coffee with a little splash of eggnog while the kiddos and I cuddle and watch the rain fall outside. That is what the rainy season here is all about to me. Oh well, hopefully we'll see some soon, right now, I'll just be happy with an overcast day or two and some fog.

Some New-ness!

My new-ness for this week freshly listed in my Etsy shop. I haven't listed much in my Artfire shop simply because I don't have that much left to list. I am still sewing though, so there is hope yet!

Oh My Goodness! The Mess!

I cannot believe how messy this place gets when I am distracted by work! I now get to spend the day organizing and cleaning up so I can make it just as messy for our next show. These are the days that I dream of my own studio space where there is room for everything I need. I would have snapped a picture or two to share with you but it might make you cry, it made me cry and I live here!

A Good Time Was Had......

Here are a couple of new pieces that I finished up just in time for the Ink People Holiday Gift Fair. I really like the top one, out of all the pieces I made, I think that little one is my favorite!

Despite a really awful stomach ache (brought on by too much Thanksgiving foodage and WAY too much coffee) and the very sad absence of my vending partner, otherwise known as my mom( insert a HUGE frowny face here, I don't think it will get any easier any time soon), I had a great time on Saturday! It was so nice to be a part of this fair, in familiar surroundings and among super talented artists. It always inspires me when I do shows, I see so much around me that I love and appreciate the hard work each of these artists puts in to their work and everything else. I can't wait for the next one! Hopefully I won't be up until 2am nailing down all the final details this time. Although, I was quite impressed with how much I was able to get done despite the craziness and grief over the last couple months.

I look forward to doing more shows in the future. Now that the kids are getting older and I am able to find sufficient time to work and plan, I think I may be able to pull it off, we'll shall see though, we shall see:)

Up in The Middle of The Night Again

Not that I want to be, but I just am. I'm pretty sure I could sleep but I'm having a really nasty allergy attack complete with wheezing and sinus headache. So, after I finish writing this, I am going to finish gluing the appliques to the last of my leathery wallets and such for my show on Saturday. It's not much, but enough to keep me busy for a couple of hours until my allergy meds start working. I still have a bit to do, but I feel like I am farther ahead than I have been in the previous years with all my stuff. I think my mom's passing has really bit me in the butt! I really feel the need to get stuff done, and not put anything that I find important off. Procrastination is deadly! Working on my leathery things has become a necessity again for coping with the loss of my mom, but I have also found that it brings me a little peace and happiness. Even if I don't sell a damn thing, I still feel good that I am making things that I love in the way I want to do them. That feeds my inspiration, which makes me want to create more. I think I lost that a bit over the last year, with all sorts of gooey details that I am not going to spill, it's been difficult to find enjoyment and inspiration in much of anything. I feel like I've found that again. Now, the trick is to keep it!

Only a Few More Days!

I am working my butt off to get some nice leathery things done for my upcoming show next Saturday. I will be selling my leathery pieces along with the last of my mom's lovely ponchos and baby jackets at the Ink People Center for the Arts Holiday Gift Fair.

I am running behind though. I still have a stack of wallets to cut glue and sew. I always do this! Although this year I guess I have more of an excuse for procrastination than usual but still! Oh well. Since I seem to have caught a sewing bug maybe I can just power on through without too much trouble. It really does help to work, it kind of clears my mind of all the busy-ness for the moment and I can just focus on what is in front of me.

In other news, we are gearing up for Thanksgiving and the holidays. I am going to have the kids finish up an Autumn wreath this week and we are hosting a small Thanksgiving potluck for my family. Then...... On to lots of glittery winter fun! I am keeping up the happy not only because my heart craves it right now, but my kids need it too. They are soooooo very excited about Christmas this year, and I think it's great. It makes me excited too. It's going to be a lovely, sad, happy, teary holiday season this year.

Lizard Condos and Such

We needed to switch Lulu and Beazus to different cages so we got this cool little Exo Terra terrarium for a temporary lizard condo for Lulu since she is too small to live with Beazus right now. It comes with a pre-made background for climbing and I started out by adding some pebbles, charcoal, and mesh for drainage on the bottom. Then I added some coco fiber as planting/bedding material.

We planted it with some ficus, alocosia, and pothos. I added some moss that I collected for stability and humidity control. I also put in some monkey vines for Lulu to climb and perch on.

Lulu seems to like it pretty well, she immediately climbed one of the monkey vines so she could take a peek around at her new place. The plants I used are all planted in the larger vivarium as well so it should be comfortable for her. Lately her favorite place to spend the day was curled up on one of the alocosia leaves hidden away from everyone. It was too cute!

Beazus seems pretty happy too. Her temporary tank was much to damp and stuffy. I was worried that she might become ill if she spent too much time in there. Now, she has a lot more space with better ventilation and it's a little warmer for her. She's been exploring all afternoon.

I can't wait for Lulu and Beazus to live together but I would rather wait until Lulu is big enough to hold her own if there should be any gecko battles over territory. So for now, the big girl gets the big vivarium, and the little girl is nice and snug in her little vivarium. As long as they are happy, I am happy.

More Newness!

These are the newest of the new now listed and ready to find new homes in my etsy shop. I am sorta diggin' the bright yellow leather, it makes for some super fun new elements in my designs. It's always a bit of a challenge to find colors that work together well without having to be altered in some way. This yellow was super challenging, but I think I found some colors that work well with it. It should be fun to see what more comes out of the crazy bright yellow, 80's jacket with bat wing sleeves and and huge shoulder pads. Now it's off to work on some coin pouches and eyeglass cases. Yippee!

Billfolds!

The whole stack is done! I finally got to listing them and the first six are now in my Etsy shop. I am listing just a few each day since I am also working on a huge stack of coin pouches as well. Man, it is such a lovely feeling to be productive! I am now gonna get my butt out of the house for a few and play:) Have a great weekend everyone!

My Plan for the Day

Is to get these listed! Finally! Just got to trim up some threads and take some pictures. Then...... a whole other stack to finish up for listing tomorrow. I don't think I have had this much stuff to list in a very long while! After all the listing excitement, I get to clean up my sewing area that a little explosion called Edolie got in to the other day. She seems to have spread most of my fabric and zippers all over the living room. Should make for a lovely game of "I Spy".

We Made it Through Halloween!

The blue M&M and the grouchy ladybug had a great time making cookies, carving up some jack o'lanterns, and trick or treating on the plaza. I made it through too! We had a wonderful day and were very happy to end it with a bowl of split pea soup with biscuits and a dessert of dirt and worms, along with some play time with the cousins and Auntie. Today we welcome in November with candy hangovers, roasted pumpkin seeds, and WAY too many jack o' lantern and ghost cookies.

The New Girl

This is our Beazus, future BFF of Lulu. Beazus is a flame morph crested gecko. She is super awesome! She will be hangin' out in her quarantine enclosure for a couple more weeks before we put her in with Lulu. It could be a while longer since Lulu is still pretty little. We hope they will be good friends and even better roommates. Lulu is getting bigger by the day but we really want to make sure that she can hold her own if any crestie squabbles break out when they are introduced. We just discovered that Lulu is a Dalmatian morph crested gecko. I panicked the other day when I saw that she was starting to get black spots all over her body. I thought she might be getting moldy or something! Luckily, I had just looked at a bunch of pictures of different morphs and found a few that look exactly like Lulu. So here's to hopin' that the awesome twosome have great lives together:)

I Can't Decide.....

If I love this or hate it. I spent the weekend working on this just to get it off of my work table once and for all. I need a new diaper bag/handbag and had cut this one out a while back to make for myself. I think I like it, but it's just, well, HUGE! and BRIGHT! I love the bright pink but the size of it freaks me out. I know it will come in handy on my day long trips here and there where I need to have lots of back up stuff for the kiddos. I guess I kind of love it in a hateful kind of way. If that even makes sense:)

In other news, I am trying to keep myself busy since my mom passed away. I feel really good when I am working and really need the distraction. I just have a hard time getting started on anything. My mind wanders naturally(ADD and all) so now it is just jumping all over the place! One thing that is helping is my upcoming show. I know I have to have some leathery things ready for that. I have piles and piles of leathery goodness to put together. So, my next few weeks will be filled with gluing, sewing, and more sewing. My mom and I were going to share a table and sell our wares but with her death, I will be the only one there. We are planning to keep my mom's space to sell her ponchos and baby jackets to hopefully make a little money for my Dad, who really needs it right now. It's going to be one weird and lonely show without her:(

Beazus is still in quarantine, and will probably be there for a couple more weeks. She is settling in nicely though. She eats well, she's active, she's curious, and eats while hanging upside down by her tail. She sleeps all day curled up like a little cat underneath her gecko cave. Lulu is just awesome as well, she also hangs upside down to eat at night. I can't wait to introduce them!

Lulu Has a Buddy!

I don't have a picture of her yet, but she is one gorgeous gecko! We've decide to call her Beazus, after Humbug Beazus. They share a similar coloration. Hopefully she doesn't have the same grouchy streak as Humbug did. I saw her and fell in love with her, and she is even more lovely in person! Cross your fingers for a good long happy life for Lulu and her new friend Beazus!

I Changed My Shop Name

It is now Oh Nicaeli! I wanted to name it that from the very beginning but for some reason I never did. So now that we can change our shop names through Etsy, I gave it a go! Someday soon, I will also have a LOT of leathery things to offer. I am back to sewing and it feels good to be busy. I look forward to sharing my newest collection of leathery things to you:)

Not you too Yui!

Our bestest cat Yui is fighting old age but old age is apparently winning. We think our sweet little tabby man is at the end of his days with us. All we can do now is make him as comfortable as possible. Yui has been such a trooper and the sweetest and most loving kitty we've known so far. Not only has he battled epilepsy for most of his years with us, he's also put up with the very opinionated and sometimes more than grouchy Humbug and Mac. He was twice as big as both of them but always let them have their way just to keep the peace. Such a sweet patient soul.

She's Two Now

Miss Edolie Evangeline turned two on Friday. Although we are in shock and so incredibly sad about my mom's passing. We decided that it would be good for all of us to keep on with the celebration. We had quite a party! I think Ed had one rockin' time and Grammy would have wanted it that way:)

It All Started With A Headache........

What started as a "neck spasm" on Thursday turned in to a massive stroke the next Monday morning. We lost my mom on Saturday October 8th, 2011. We are so lucky that we got to spend time with her before she died. We are so glad that we had the opportunity to say goodbye. We love and miss her so much.

Happy October!

October is here! I love it! I also love that it came in with clouds and rain. It makes my heart happy. Today the family and I will celebrate by heading downtown for a cookie and some coffe and to look at what is left of Pastels on the Plaza, a fundraiser for Northcoast Children's Services.

I am busting through my stack of leathery things, getting lots o' appliques cut and glued! I am even working on a special project out of super bright pink leather, I won't give it away at the moment, I'll just show you when it's all done and ready to be worn:)

Have a great day all!

Lulu is Just Awesome!

This little cutie is taking over our lives here. We are still not sure if Lulu is a girl or a boy, he/she is still pretty tiny and hard to catch, so we can't get a really good look at his/her "parts." All I know is that he/she is super cute and super entertaining to watch while he/she jumps and bounces around the vivarium. I finally got this picture of Lulu while he/she was spying on us yesterday. How could anyone not love those incredible eyes!

We've Been Stuck Inside for a Long, Long, Time

We all had colds last week which kept us inside for almost the entire week. Lots of coughing and sneezing and feverish-ness. On Friday, our shower decided it was time to leak, but not just leak, more like run like a itty bitty waterfall. We couldn't get it to stop. So, we had a few days of waiting on a plumber to fix up our leaky/runny shower, no outside time for us there either. It turned out that there was a great big piece o' fungus growing all up in the nether regions of the shower faucet. YUCK! At least the shower works now, I would hate to see what else is growing in our walls now. As for the stuck inside part, I'm not really complaining because I got a lot of work done. I cut out LOTS of leathery coin pouches and wallets and started gluing in some of the appliques. Hopefully, some will find their way to the sewing machine soon so I can get them sewn up and ready to list! I am crossing my fingers that I can keep it going:)

The Big Pile O' Stuff!

This is what I worked on this weekend. lots of billfolds and coin pouches were cut out, now it's time to get creative and do some appliques. The colors don't look that fantastic as they are all layered together in one big blob, but there is everything from light grey to school bus yellow, to metallic white! I am also cutting out some more emerald green, violet, purple, red, and blue coin pouches and such to add to the pile. I just had to take a break to rest my hand for a bit. Feels good to work!!!!!

Lulu

Lulu the Crested Gecko

 Since we lost Jonesie and the field mice, we decided that it was just too lonely here and we really needed to find a friend for the very lonely vivarium and put a little cheer into our lives.

So, last Monday we headed out to our local pet supply shop to look at their selection of little critters that would work out for our vivarium and we came home with Lulu!  Ciaran named him/her on the way home from the shop.  He/she is a baby crested gecko and only measures about four inches long right now.  He/she makes a very lovely addition to our house of toddlers, tortoises, and tabby cats!  Lulu seems to really like his/her new home, he/she has been exploring every corner of it with his/her little sticky toes!   

( I am using his/her  a lot because it is too early to tell if Lulu is a girl or boy, so in a few months we should know and his/her name will be Lulu or Lou.) 

Other than that, I am excited about the Fall and Winter and all the fun that comes along with it.  I will be doing the Ink People Center for the Arts Holiday Gift Fair this year.  After a year off!  I made myself  a "get busy or die!" list.  I sure hope I follow it!  Too much procrastination and self doubt these last few months, it's time to get over myself and back to work! 

Happy Friday!

I wish you all a fabulous weekend of fun!  I am hoping to get some work done this weekend as well as get out in the sunshine for a bit and play.  I am working on a great little wristlet right now and just can't wait until it's done so I can show you all.  Hopefully, I will get it all done and some other things too!  Off I go to play in a big pile of leather:)

What a WEIRD Way to End The Week.

We were so excited to receive Jonesie and did all we could to keep her comfy and help her adapt to her new home for the last week. Unfortunately, she passed away early Saturday Morning, breaking my heart and the kiddos hearts' as well. RIP Jonesie. ( Sorry for the fuzzy picture, it was her first day with us and I didn't want to stress her out by getting the camera too close to her.)

Then, Mark came home from his ride on Saturday with a pocket full of little babies he had saved from an uncertain future in the road. We started with four, two died within the first hours of being home with us, these are the two little babies that lived and are eating and thriving so far. We have no idea if they will make it or not but we are giving it our all.

So, that's been my week in a nutshell. As much as I wanted to get back to sewing, I am now spending my days caring for some these absolutely tiny critters and that is cool with me. I only wish my efforts with Jonesie were as successful :(

Onward to next week which I hope to be filled with leathery fun and thriving small furry critters. Cross your fingers for us:)

I'm Back!

........and it was FUN! I love going to Oregon and so do the kiddos and Mark. We had a wonderful, adventurous time traveling all about Oregon, and now after I catch up on some much needed sleep, I have the urge to create! We'll see what happens after some resting and birthday celebrating this weekend:)


Enjoy your weekend everyone!

New Made to Order Item

I think I posted these pics before but I finally decided that I wanted to offer this design in my Etsy and Artfire shops as a made to order item. It's a journal cover that can be made in most colors and textures(depending on what I have available) and sizes. This one fits a 4 inch by 6 inch journal/sketchbook. It's fully lined and padded and has a roomy zipper pocket for pencils/pens/ erasers/etc.

Other than that, I am getting ready for our adventure and doing a bit of sewing and cleaning in between. I am having visions of cool scenery, train rides, donuts, zoo animals, reptiles, pastries, and the sea! I am having a hard time concentrating because I am looking forward to the journey so much. So enjoy your week everyone, I will be back soon with pics and many stories of my adventures out there somewhere:)

This Week's News

There isn't much news this week. Just working on my leathery things and hoping to get a few things done and listed in my shops. I did decided to celebrate August the month of my birthday and the month of my fourth Etsyversary by offering free shipping in my Etsy shop:)

Other than that, I will be heading out to play for a few days next week so I won't be around much. I will leave my shops open though, and all items that are sold between August 11th and August 15th(my vacation time) will ship out by Wednesday August 17th when I am back in town. We are heading north to Oregon to have some fun! I hope to have a lot of stories and pictures when we return.

So off I head to my work table full of leathery wonders, to sew up a storm on this cloudy, rainy morning. Have a lovely day all!

Some New Pictures

My newest wallet! Now up for grabs in my Etsy shop.

Ciaran and Edolie relaxing in the sun, Ciaran got a new hair cut!

The vivarium at 1 1/2 weeks growth. I added some baby tears and other moss and will be taking out the dead selaginella moss and adding another small plant. Should be ready for our little scaly friend soon:)

Newbie!

I just finished this new envelope wallet up and listed it in my Etsy shop. I am loving this bright green leather! I will be sad when it's all used up and gone:(

The Newest and More Like it

I finished this wallet up and listed it this week, I forgot I had cut a bunch of these out a while back and they are all ready to be put together. So, with any luck, I'll be working my little hiney off all weekend to get a few of these done.

Other than that, I am all finished with the critter vivarium and it should be ready to go in a couple of weeks. I just want all the plants and mosses to get a good healthy start before some little critter moves in. I am also going to have to make the tortoises a background for their enclosure. It seems that Abner and Imogene have been trying to make their way out and actually "dug" a hole right through the wire mesh on one side. So with my newly acquired "reptile habitat" skills I will be fashioning them a new background for their cage out of foam core, spray foam, wood glue, dried moss and coco fiber. Yipee! I'm crossing my fingers that they like it.


That's my week in a nutshell. Not terribly exciting, but not horrible either and that's o.k. with me!

My Newest Custom Design

I finished this big ol' envelope up last week. I am really happy with how it turned out! I am in love with that bright blue leather for sure! It goes off to it's new home in Greece this week.

Vivarium!

My fake rocks for our lizard vivarium made of spray foam!

Carving up the rocks to make them more "rock-like"

All carved up and ready to be sealed

Sealed and drying in the sun! I used a mixture of peat moss, sphagnum moss, coco fiber, and wood glue. ( I think that they look like huge turds)


I put in the background, added the fountain, coco fiber, planters, selaginella, and sprinkled some peat and sphagnum mosses

I added the branches and vines

Now it is all planted up and ready to go. I planted a small palm, polka dot plant and some other terrarium plants. We just need to let them get used to their new home. I will post some pictures once everyone is established and thriving.

It was a great project and now I just want to build terrariums and vivariums all day!