Together Tuesday; Tinfoil

I have been thinking about my grandmother a lot lately. I spent an awful lot of time with her when I was a kid, and loved to drop in to visit her for a few minutes when I got old enough to drive. She was an amazing woman, a musical prodigy who went to Yale School of Music in a time when women rarely went to college. She always had a story to tell, and we have tons of stories to tell about her now as well. She called herself "GramTowns". No one is sure quite why; she was just like that ;)

One of the things that she always had at her house was tin foil. When she wasn't capping a bottle of champagne on Christmas Eve with it (and then pulling said bottle out the following Christmas Eve ... "It was COVERED, it's fine to drink. What's wrong with you people?!?!?"), she was pulling out the tin foil to make tin foil jewelry with us. So today's Together Tuesday is to pull out some tin foil and make tin foil jewelry together. We used to twist the tin foil to make bracelets and necklaces, then cut small shaped pieces to attach. I remember my grandmother always making rings with it.

Fluff Factory Auctions!

It's that time of year again!

What time?

Time for the Fluff Factory Auctions!!

This year, the artisans of Fluff Factory are raising money for Heifer International. All proceeds from the FFAs will be donated to Heifer. Auction are running from today, Friday, April 24th, to Sunday, May 3rd.

We have two BedBug auctions up, starting today at noon, starting at just $10. Make sure to check out all the listings - there are some amazingly talented artisans participating this year, as always!

New Club Memberships

I am finishing up my "Year of Surprises" slots right now, so I though it was time to offer a couple of new clubs - debuting today at K&F are the BedBug of the Month Club and the DreamScape of the Month Club. What are these clubs? Well, you can choose a 3 or 6 month membership, and each month for 3 or 6 months you will receive a beautiful custom BedBug or DreamScape. You choose everything - just like our regular custom orders - colors, finishing style, theme, etc. Purchase price for club memberships reflects a discount off our normal prices.

Sweet Dreams

K&F is hoping you have Sweet Dreams this week! Here is a sneak peek of some of what's in store for you this week ...

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Unicorns

Another OBV blanket. This one was inspired by a little girl's love of unicorns and her favorite picture of the phases of the moon ...

Some close ups ...

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Together Tuesday - Make Tracks!

* Make tracks
Tracks in the mud! If it is a muddy day outside, take a bunch of toy cars and other vehicles outside and make tracks directly in the mud. If it’s not muddy, you can make your own mud indoors by missing up brown paint with water to create a muddy consistency. Pour some onto a plate and dip your vehicles in, then race the vehicles across a piece of paper to create muddy tracks.


... from "A Rainbow of Colors", Earth*School, copyright 2005-2009

WARNING: EXTREME CUTENESS AHEAD

Don't say you weren't warned. Because I warned you. Loudly. Step away from the computer screen if you cannot tolerate pure, unadulterated cuteness ...

For size reference, the inside of that picnic basket is 5 1/2" x 7 1/2". They are really teeny tiny!

Unfortunately, we did lose one baby bunny. It was the little all black one :( But we are very happy to report that the other three are alive and well and will be 3 weeks old tomorrow. They are nursing as well as drinking from the water bottle and eating fruit and hay. And being carried around in a picnic basket.

And we found out how Dandelion got pregnant this time.... Kenna finally spilled the beans on Easter morning when she told us that while my my ex husband was babysitting one night when I wasn't home, he let both bunnies out together because it "wasn't fair to keep them apart", and as soon as he did, he had to pull them off each other. Sigh. Even my kids know better than that!

So far, the black and white bunny is the only one who has a name. It's name is Oreo, although Guinness has been tossed into the ring as well. I think it will be Oreo though ;) The kids want to name the white one Snow, but I am not married to the idea. They also wanted to name it cottontail (you know, Flopsy, Mopsy and Cottontail ... that's what they called the bunnies all weekend). The poor gray one is going to get a complex; no name ideas there at all.

Celebrate Earth, Wind & Fire!

We are celebrating Earth, Wind & Fire today at K&F, another great theme from our spring themes contest. Here is a sneak peek of what's in store for you today ...

www.flickr.com mom2kbeth's Elements 4.17 photoset

The Pain and the Great One

Do you remember that Judy Blume book from when you were a kid? Thee pics from Easter of my middle brother, Dave, and Miss McKenna instantly brought that book title to mind ...

Together Tuesday

It's a cloudy day here in CT today. We get lots and lots of rain in April, and this activity is always a lot of fun. We will be pulling out the paints and paper next time we have some rain drops :)

* Rain painting
Let those April showers do your painting for you! Drop small amounts of paint onto a large sheet of fingerpaint paper or freezer paper. Place the paper outside in a gentle rain and watch as the raindrops ht the paint, splattering it. Watch the water droplets pooling then dispersing, taking the colors with them. Bring your paper inside to dry. Don’t leave it out too long or all of the paint will be washed away!

Underwater Dreams

There are few thing I love more than the ocean. I love the shells, the sand, the hot sun on my skin, the salty water, the sea creatures ... so when this theme, Underwater Dreams, was suggested for K&F, I *knew* I would have to create something special for it.

www.flickr.com

Now I am dreaming of a queen sized version for *MY* bed. Never mind the kids (Kenna desperately wants one too), *I* want one! Wonder how long it would take to make one that size ... this one (28"x39") took 3 days of solid embroidery work ;)

Underwater Dreams - Today at K&F!

Today is one of my all time favorite themes at K&F - Underwater Dreams! Come check out all the under the sea goodies we have in store. Here is a sneak peek ....

www.flickr.com

Don't forget to check out our HC shop as well where we have an Ocean PlayScape auction running from 11:45 today until Sunday night. This auction can be payable up to 100% in HC$.

Gingerbread house

The kids found this at the store the other day ... something so totally right up their alley, we couldn't pass it up.

Wish I could take credit for this one, but this bad boy came preassembled...

Cast of characters ... AKA the decorating supplies ...


The kids assure me these are rabbits. I am not so sure. We have rabbits. They don't look like this.

Gotta have the decorator bags of icing ... you know, so the kids can squeeze them and have the icing come shooting out of the top of the bags ;)

The candies that are so hard you will break your teeth trying to eat them. Holden sure gave it a fighting try though.

Bunny marshmallows. Now these are cute. We found these at Target and Holden, the Marshmallow King, had to have them. I thought they would be perfect decorations for the house. Plus they festive up my hot cocoa.

So hard at work. Look at that concentration ...

All finished!

Yum!!!

Mmmmmmm.....

The aftermath ... or, 2 minutes after the house was finished.

Fantasy Forest

I am really, really loving making these blankets. This one is for Angel's sweet little Lette, a fantasy forest scene.

www.flickr.com mom2kbeth's Fantasy Forest photoset

I had wanted to include at least one unicorn, but the scale was off, and it made the fairies seem gigantic, so I left out the unicorn. That's ok, because I am now working on a new blanket with moon phases and frolicking unicorns ;)

This blanket now takes the prize as the single item with the most embroidery stitches on it, tipping the scales at over 137,650!!!

Spring

We have had some warmer weather finally here in CT, which means more time outside, which means a happier mama and kiddos. These are from Thursday, Lyman Orchards, which is one of my favorite places in CT. From June to Halloween we try to go once every week-2 weeks to pick strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, apples, pears, pumpkins and squash. They also have the best sandwiches, which is what we went for Thursday, a nice dinner out on the deck, and a rousing time of "chase the goose".

Ummm ... that's the closest these geese have *ever* let the kids get. They must be out of practice after the long winter. They usually chase the kids around.

This goose, that the kids named Feathers, actually let them pet him!

Ok, well, then he turned and tried to peck Holden somewhere no little boy should be pecked. He had a perfect muddy beak print right in the middle of his shorts. Then the goose turned his attention on me and started trying to peck at me and the car (I was sitting on the hood - I wasn't going down there with him!).

At least the tree didn't fight back.

Some new DreamScape designs ...

First up, "Horsie". This is part of a collaboration for Dashing Dachs' anniversary stocking on April 23rd. Hillary is one of the most talented artisans I know; I am honored to be part of her anniversary celebration :)

"Down on the Farm" for Terri ...

"A Dog's Night" for Terri ...

Blast from the past

My bestest friend in the whole world has been telling me i need to join Facebook. I have resisted, since, really, do I need another thing on the computer to suck away the time I already don't have? Well, I finally succumbed because she had some pictures of us from a loooooooong time ago posted on there and I had to see them.

3rd grade - was not a good year for me. In second grade, I was a cute kid. I had really long hair, down to my butt. My mom got tired of chasing me around to get me to dry it so she had it all chopped off into the horrid Dorothy Hamil haircut. When they were done you couldn't see the floor. I was traumatized for life. I will never have short hair again. Ever. I mean it. So I got to start 3rd grade in a new school looking like a little boy. Gee thanks mom ;) It had grown out a little by the time this picture was taken, but looking at it, I am not sure that was a *good* thing. Of course, 3rd grade *was* the year I met my bestest friend, so I guess it turned out ok.

4th grade - still bad hair. And what is up with all those knee socks??

5th grade - ahh, that's better. And here I am sitting right next to the kid that will, 2 years later, be my first kiss.

Can you guess which one I am in each picture? First person to get all 3 right will get a prize. Not sure what yet, but it will be something good :) Post your guesses to the comments section. I will take guesses until Monday night (4/6) at midnight. Here's something to make it a little easier ...

Since I get recognized at the grocery store/gas station/walking the dog (ok, I have no dog, but you get the idea) all the time ... "I know you, you were in my kindergarten/preschool/7th grade homeroom class!" ... I know I have always pretty much looked the same (other than more than a couple of really bad hair years. Don't get me started on the big hair days!), here are some recent pics to help you in identifying.

2007 with Holden

2008 with my pumpkin

2008 laughing maniacally on Christmas Eve with my younger brother as we all sang/played Rockband.

What Every Mom Wants

As a mom, what do you want? Myself, at the top of the list is quiet. Plain and simple. I miss quiet. If someone out there can figure out how to bottle quiet for me, I promise to make you a very rich woman ;)

Now, I can't help with the quiet, but K&F can certainly help with some of the other things moms want! How about a good night's sleep? A good sale? Comfy jammies to lounge around in? Beautiful art? a gorgeous new bag? Those we can help with ;)

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Seriously???

For those of you who read my blog regularly, you may think I am reposting the same picture from before ... ummmm, well, no. This is the 3rd set of baby bunnies we have had! I know, I get the whole reproducing like rabbits thing. But here's the kicker. When Dandelion had the first litter (2 babies) 2 days before Thanksgiving, I took Basil out of her cage and put him in a separate cage. They have been in separate cages with 3-4" separating the cages and 2 sets of bars. The first set of babies died on Thanksgiving at 2 days old. chalked it up to mom being too young, she didn't know what to do with them. They were adorable, but really small.

Fast forward to Christmas. The morning after Christmas, Kenna comes running in here screaming that there are MORE baby bunnies! I didn't believe her at first, but she sounded very convincing (my kids are the world's worst liars, lol) so I went to check ... sure enough, this time there were 4. We joked for the week and a half that that set lived that this was the Christmas miracle - the virgin bunny birth. (Dandelion was probably pregnant concurrently with the two litters, having gotten pregnant right before giving birth the first time, or getting pregnant immediately upon giving birth).

So fast forward to almost Easter (are you seeing a theme here?) ... Tuesday, Kenna comes running in here again screaming that there are yet MORE baby bunnies. I didn't want to believe her. But I learned from my mistake the first time and went in to check. Yup. You guessed it. 4 more baby bunnies. They are awfully cute. They are bigger than the previous 6, so maybe these ones have a chance. But seriously, how is this rabbit getting pregnant? Theories range from virgin births, to wild rabbits getting to her and impregnating her (the rabbits live in my kitchen in our 3rd floor apartment), to the male impregnating her across the 3-4 inch space through the two cages, to the male getting out of his cage (which he has done a few times in the middle of the night) and somehow sidling up to her cage and impregnating her that way to Dandelion propping her cage door open with a carrot so that Basil can get in for a tryst when no one is looking ... I have no idea.

If we weren't quoted nearly $400 to have Basil neutered, I would have done it a long time ago!