Toddler Tuesday :: where I work out some big feelings

Sonny turned two last week. 
Last Tuesday in fact.

I have not had any really big "mom" flip outs I think.
I don't think that I have, maybe I've been flipping out this whole time, and everyone around me has just been really kind and kept quiet about it and just kept an eye.  You know, in case I got really weird.

But to my mind, I think I've been pretty reasonable. 
I understand that he's not going to be my tiny baby forever.  He's already this big kid with his own VERY clear ideas of how things should be, and he's now starting to Push The Buttons.

And I know that this is healthy and normal and he should be doing this.  He needs to push and push and push until I snap, so he knows where the line in the sand is.

And in my head, I get it.
And I thought that I would handle it all in stride, because I think that I've been pretty mellow so far.
(again, perhaps an outsiders perspective might be different!)

But today we were at a friend's home where there were a lot of other kids of various ages playing, and it was great.  There were older kids and younger kids and Sonny happily trooped from one activity to the next with no problems.

Until.
A little boy, about his age, who was energetically playing with his older brother, running up the stairs and jumping down again, gave him a little push.

I saw it happen, and it was just a little shove.  Totally no big deal.
But Sonny has never really had to deal with another toddler who played in a different style, and had no real idea of how to react.

He came over, and quietly said "Boy.  Push mama."

"did he push you?"

"yeah."

"do you want to sit with me for a minute?"

"yeah."

And he climbed up onto my lap and we had a quiet minute or two while he watched the other boys playing, and then we had a quiet conversation about how the other little boy has a big brother and they are playing with a lot of energy, and how it's ok to play different ways.

He took a minute to snuggle, and then off he went playing again. 

Fine right?

But a few times over the evening it came up again, "Boy push, Sonny mama"
"I know buddy, sometimes that will happen.  Sometimes you will be the boy who pushes."

And I don't know if I am really just starting to let it settle in that he is not a baby any more, he's a little boy and he's figuring out what that means.  And now I have to figure out what it means to let him be a little boy, and let the word affect him and let him affect the world and I just want to wrap him up in my arms and hold on tight and protect him from EVERYTHING.

And recognize that I can't do that.  Recognize that I have to let him go out into the world and that it's far better for him to.

But it is breaking my heart and I have had quiet tears through dinner and I am realizing and accepting that I am going to be the mom who cries, and that he's going to roll his eyes at me, and hopefully give me a squeeze before heading out with his friends knowing that his mom is a bit ridiculous and a wet hen and that I love him.

And he will be totally ok.

But I will be awake every night until I hear him sneak in way past curfew, and I'll let his friends crash at our house so that we know everyone is safe, and I'll cry over every little thing.

Of course I will.
I'm crying right now!




Or maybe it's all just hormones and I need a chocolate.

This exists in real life

I know it does, because I saw it.

And it's AMAZING.

I can not think about this without recalling the scene in Spaceballs, where The President of Planet Spaceball is sniffing his contraband can of Druidian Air.

So good.

Oh How Pinteresting! :: Blue Shirt Obsession

via

via

via

via

via

via

via

I have a true and passionate love for blue shirts.  Blue Shirts!

I don't know if it's the simplicity, the cut, the drape the WHAT?  But I loveLOVElove them.

I would have a closet entirely full of button up blue shirts in various hues and shapes and styles.

Pop the Collar!  Blousy and Loose!  Tucked In!  As a Dress!

That is if I didn't also keep a Mistress of Grey Tshirts in a fancy apartment in town.

And the Casual Fling that is Plaid Shirts that I have throughout the Summer.

 

All Sprung Out 2013

I am getting materials ready and packing up some older work and some samples to have on sale at All Sprung Out! 
I met the lovely Rebecca of Nook and Charis Anderson there last year, and I am excited to meet some new friends next month!

I am hoping to bring some new earrings, some Copper Barnacles and a selection of fresh Spring Leather Earrings.

My hands are nearly healed so I am feeling good!

Toddler Tuesdays :: Wizard training

Sonny is at a point right now where he will let me put hats on him and he'll just keep playing like I didn't interrupt his Very Important Work.

 

I am kind of flipping out over the Dress Up possibilities!

Pep talk

Kid President, I like the cut of your jib.

The Tiniest Wiimote you ever did see!

 My dear friend Dee is expecting her second baby (on Sonny's birthday!) and she approached me to make a special Big Sister gift for her daughter.

It was a two part necklace we designed for her, one from Mom and one from Dad.
Dad's was a tiny wiimote because those two spend some great time together gaming.  My sweet boys will probably share a love of gaming too, so this was really fun for me to make.

I tried to make the connection to the main chain similar to the wii wrist strap by using some delicate chain that I had. 

Solid brass and sterling silver chain.

Congratulations you guys! 

Oh How Pinteresting :: Watercolour Tattoos

I have a big love for ink.
I got my first tattoo when I was 17 and I have never looked back. 

I have a piece on my back that's mostly black linework blossoms and I want to connect it with some watercolour blossoms WITH NO BLACK OUTLINE.

Just fluid, splashes of colour.

via

via

via

via

via

via

Those ROSES!  Oh they get me every time.

I'm also thinking about maybe incorporating a blossom or two that are just outlined in a soft colour.

Similar to this...

via

I like the idea of going in for a big blossom here and there as time goes on, and building a beautiful finished piece over the years.

The show must go on! Possibly too much personal info! Snakes!

 It's been just over a month since a detox program threw my eczema into fits.  Seriously I have been itching (har har) to get back into the studio and make some orders that have been lining up while being forced to SIT and THINK about working on them.  Not stressful in the least. (I am totally lying, it's been very stressful and I am supposed to be DECREASING stress in order to get my hands back under control. Ugh!)

It's not pleasant, but my reaction to things is a break out of blisters on my hands and fingers.
Too much contraband?  Blisters.
Too much stress?  Blisters.
Too much chocolate or wine? (seriously Universe??)  Blisters.

I am very slowly getting back to my bench however, and while it does put the healing back a few days, it's making ME feel better.  So I am carefully and respectfully getting back to work.

Like this new little beauty.

I mailed him off on the weekend and I am very pleased that he's off in the world.
Thank you Linda for ordering him!

Toddler Tuesdays :: Working in the Garden

I have never had much of a green thumb.  Honestly, there were weekends when we were tweens that Mom would drag us out to the back yard to Weed....ugh, even thinking about it makes me shudder.
She had to drag us out there because we HATED it. Oh man it was preteen torture!  I can't imagine that she had any fun back there either with the two of us whining and wailing and generally being sullen and awful.

We were terrible.

But even though I didn't have the most auspicious start to my gardening career, I have for the last few years thought quite lovingly about the future garden that I would have, growing veggies and strawberries.  Strawberries are the Big Draw for me.  I have wonderful memories of being little and picking fresh strawberries with my Poppa on summer vacation.

And carrots out of his garden too now that I think of it.

Last year I went as far as buying packets of seeds to plant.  And I somehow managed to STEAM THEM.  I think I left them on the shelf above the sink and a few too many hot sinks full of water and draining past did them all in.

Incredible I know.

But this year.  THIS YEAR!!  I have already PLANTED two different types of kale AND STRAWBERRIES in the back garden.

And I love it!  Really, completely love it.  I am hoping to pick up carrot seeds this week and later in the spring we are going to put down some squash, zucchini and cucumbers too.

And Sonny, bless is little heart, loves it back there.  He pushes a little plastic lawnmower that our neighbors passed down to us and excitedly calls me over to "help snakes".  Toddler speak for Please Pick up that Dead Worm and Do Something With It.

The things we do.

Phone cases are taking up too much residence in the old Train of Thought these days.

So I know this is coming right off after ANOTHER post about phone cases.  Seriously, it's absurd.

But I just got me an iphone, after YEARS of quietly coveting Geoff's and assuming that I would nver bother to sign on for a contract to get one.

And then I did.

And. I. Totally. Love. It.

It's such a silly thing, but I really like it and I am feeling excited about it and I like decorating things so a case is a no brainer.
(plus clumsy mom and grabby toddler equals cases being kind of important. And why not have a pretty one?)

And THESE beauties from Csera's etsy shop are LOVERLY.

I am thinking that I might order myself the top turquoise and gold one, I am loving those great deco lines!
And the wood effect is nice too... but I keep going back to stare at the gold one.
(of course I am)

I'm getting a tiny tax return, and I am working on justifying this.

What is selling me is that all of the cases are made from recycled materials and made in small runs, so each design is a limited edition.

I might have already sold myself on this. 

Frivolous Friday Find :: HS frozen in carbonite

I love you. 

I know.



*huge adolescent sigh!*

found it here

Good Greif!

I totally missed a week! 
I've been so good about writing up my posts in advance that I somehow managed to LOSE a whole week in the list!

Sorry guys!

Here's a picture of Norman.

Back tomorrow with more silly goodness.

Frivolous Friday Find :: Actresses Without Teeth

So this is ENTIRELY ridiculous.
But I can not CAN NOT keep this magic to myself.

Geoff just sent me the link for this tumblr and Oh. My. Good. Gracious.
 

It must be pretty new, because there are only about 5 pages worth, but it is so weirdly compelling and terrifying and I am literally transfixed right now.

WHY ARE THEY ALL SO TERRIFYING??

It's pretty fun that these normally stunning ladies are humbled back to... well, they all sort of look like Gollum actually, so I don't know what I was getting at anymore.

Go there. 

Actresses without Teeth.  Weirdly genius.

Where my Attention to Detail Usurps my need for sleep

Just carving the crap out of some stamps.

No big deal.

Cuffs with No Name

These three bad boys are living at Shampoo Hair Bar at the moment... presumably at least as I know that a few of the ladies there were eyeing them up when I dropped them off a little while ago. 

Brand new, hand forged, I have NO IDEA what to call them.

That's not entirely true, I am leaning towards something appropriately Nordic/Viking-ish due to their hammered, forgey nature.

Forgey is a technical term I learned at school.

They are extra nice because you can bend them a little bit here and there to get them to fit you EXACTLY how you want them.

I will be posting them into the shops in the coming weeks... Full Disclosure: I am having a bit of a Can't Work with My Hands Hiatus at the moment due to an impressive eczema reaction to a new herbal treatment I am taking.  To FIX SAID REACTION, but whatever.

Fingers are mostly crossed (swelling is keeping the cross from being totally official UGH!) that I will be back at it next week.

Happy Long Weekend

We're taking it easy around these parts, just a casual Egg Hunt in the morning, followed by BRUNCH, followed by naps and then DINNER.

Please look at those RIDICULOUSLY little boots and that huge muddy buddy crammed into them!
GAH!  Kills me!