Merry Christmas!!!

It has been a bit of a crazy and hectic week in our house. . .but that's a given for the week before Christmas, right?  Especially when it's the first week of school vacation for the kids. What did this week involve, one might ask?  I think I'll share:)

We created a gingerbread house.

The girls and I visited the Botanical Conservatory to admire the beautiful plants,

and see the reindeer on their annual visit.

We spent a GREAT deal of time shopping and Christmas crafting. 

(those photos cannot be shared until a few more people receive their gifts:)

Strep throat attacked my husband and I in an attempt to hold us back, but we conquered that nastiness and managed to keep our germs from the kids.

Finally we have arrived at Christmas Day!  Yay!

Tomorrow we travel to Cardington Ohio to celebrate Christmas with a few more special people.

Merry Christmas to you all! 

I hope you have a blessed and wonderful holiday with your family and friends:)

Me in Tattoo February 2011 issue!!

 Yep, that's right, an article about me not Ryan this time:)  As embarrassed as I am by my photo (can we say fake awkward smile here?), I still find it pretty cool to see myself in print.  And the article in Tattoo plugged my jewelry and my etsy shop!  Can't hurt, right? 

me!

sorry for the photo quality, i didn't have time to scan the images in!

Here is the cover in case you want to look for it in the store;-)  I believe the issue comes out next week!

just some business

I'm in the process of re-working my blog.  I feel like the various aspects of my life are quite diverse and readers might be interested in some areas more than others, so I attempted to add a menu bar at the top to break my posts into categories:

The Designer for jewelry and etsy related posts

The Homemaker for posts about being a mom, crafting, homelife, etc

The Wife for posts about my hubby and our "tattooed" life

The Nature Lover for anything about my garden, hiking, etc.

There might be a more efficient way to add a menu bar. . .If you know of one, let me know!  I welcome and appreciate any feedback or suggestions for continued improvement!!!!  Thank you:)

just a random photo of Little M to spice up this rather dull post:)

SNOW!

The cold temps have arrived early this year. Days in the 20s and nights in the teens? Ahh, no thank you. Our only consolation is the beautiful white snow that keeps falling.

The birds are out feasting. . .

And we are out playing. . .


(yes, Miss W's hair is bright red)

and snow angel creating. . .

and nature watching. Can you see both the male and female cardinal here?



Such a beautiful time of the year.

Skin & Ink January 2011 Issue

Ryan has a fabulous artist spotlight in the January issue of Skin & Ink Magazine. He always seems to turn up in one magazine or another. . .must be rough, you know? Haha, just joking. Ryan has worked very hard to get where he is. I continuously admire his talent, motivation, and drive. I hope to one day be as successful in my jewelry career as he is in his art career.

(sorry for the poor photographs. you should probably just buy the magazine to read it clearly;-)

I'll let you know where he is spotted next.

look who i caught. . .

on the compost bin, stalking my birds and little mice.

he didn't catch anything, this time at least.