“The time has come,” the Walrus said,

“To talk of many things --

such as . . . my new Etsy shop: Bushel & Bloom! I'm so excited about this, you guys! I've been wanting a change for a while (since my other name was SUPER lame) so here she be! I've already put up two of my weekly menus for sale. Each menu comes in a set of 25 with a really cute thumb tack for easy kitchen posting and a few of my favorite recipes. Get cooking!

I also have a few things at home that I'm working on - some new paintings (including a Bohemian clock) and lots of other goodies. I'll post about them when I'm done. Oooo, I'm so excited!

{etsy finds}

As many of you know, Etsy has some awesome things for sale. Here are some of my recent favorites:

1) Wiltshire Hare (by Suss): This wonderful stuffed bunny is made from a vintage sweater. I wish, wish, wish I had a little boy to buy this for. I can see him now, my sweet little Christopher Robin, dressed in a nightshirt on his way upstairs for his bedtime bath. His mousey brown hair drooping over his sleepy blue eyes as he drags the Wiltshire Hare behind him clutched in his chubby fingers. And just before he goes to sleep, he kisses that perfect pink, wool nose and rubs the long ears against his face to soothe him to sleep. OK, now I'm just mixing up children's books.

2) Luggage Disguise (by Bumbles and Lu): I recently scored a great deal on some Victorinox luggage . . . and I mean a GREAT deal. It would break my little frugal heart is someone snatched it up at the airport luggage carousel. If I were to have one of these disguise luggage tags, I have a sneaking suspicion that if a prospective thief were to think about stealing my new luggage, they might see the moustache and chuckle to themselves and say, "Anyone with that kind of humor deserves to keep such a splendid piece of luggage." and I would be home free! What do you think? What's your favorite color of tag? I can't decide.

3) Blue Sky and Cherry Pie Reversible Scarf (by BCharmer): BCharmer is one of my favorite Etsy designers. Her profile alone is worth a second glance. "I consider myself a farmer in the city, growing my own fruits and vegetables and have, in the past, kept bees for pollination and honey (and also for their good company). Knitting was my first three dimensional art form, which led to an interest in spinning my own yarn." I long to be her friend. Don't you? I also long for this cheerful reversible scarf. If only the high today weren't 82 degrees . . . I'd have to wait 7 months just to wear this.

4) Starfish Ring (by Sarah Hood Jewelry): Besides my wedding ring, earrings and the occasional necklace, I've never been a big jewelry fan . . . and then I met this Starfish Ring from Sarah Hood Jewelry. Isn't it lovely? I would wear it to the beach, for sure. Or, at least, to dinner at George's At The Cove in La Jolla.

You can also check out my Etsy shop here.

{reuniting and painting}

I've been painting like crazy lately. 4 paintings in two days. I guess I'm just excited for M to come on Thursday! I cannot WAIT! The wall in the guest bathroom was painfully bare but not anymore! I'll try this one out for a while.

The itinerary o' fun for the reunion of M and E starts Thursday morning with a trip to Last Chance (many hours will be spent in this heaven), lunch at La Grande L'Orange, shopping in downtown Scottsdale, browsing art galleries and shops and then a Valentine's dinner at home of steamed artichokes, ginger chicken with roasted peaches and red onions and hot co-co-cocoa for dessert while watching Jane Austen's Persuasion. It'll be great . . . even without our manly men. I'll be missing David while he's in Reno for a construction convention and M will be missing her man, Steve, who's alone in Utah because I begged and pleaded for her to come visit me on Valentine's weekend! Besides, their love lasts all year long! They can celebrate on Monday like we are! Updates to come.

{etsy updates}

Hey pals - I could not be more proud of some of my new Etsy items! Check out this delicious fork silhouette for your kitchen:

If you're looking for a funkalicious piece - look no further. My "Hop Skip Jump" creation is pretty dang cute:

Look at this hipster bird. Seriously, her vintage glasses make me crack up every time I look at this pretty girl. Don't you just love it? Purchase these here!

{custom etsy}

I made a couple of custom Etsy orders and here's how they turned out. She requested one for "Olivia" with ladybugs and













one for "Isabella" with a shabby chic feel to it. Hope she likes them!

{etsy updates}

New little ada treats are up on Etsy! Here are two of my featured items. Check them out here! They're going fast.

{blog bailing}

Diggity-dearest friends,

This is me, looking back fondly on the years I've been blogging on this blog o' mine (actually it's me hiking in Hawaii) but I have some news. The time has come for me to decrease my blogging. I hate to be one of those people who just slowly starts to bail on their ever-so-devoted readers, so I am giving you all a heads-up.

As much as I enjoy doing it, blogging at work is not very ethical so I've got to give it up (that - and I have a sneaking suspicion that the company I work for can track which websites I go to and I'm afraid of getting caught. I didn't say that.). That leaves blogging at home. My choices at home are usually to either blog or cuddle with my delicious husband . . . hmmmm. Have you seen my husband? He's a babe. So, there I'll sit, cuddling on our white couch, watching some television show and probably eating a cookie(s) . . . and not blogging.

I'm not saying that I'm going to stop forever, I'm just going to cut back for a while. Most of you probably don't give a hoot but I thought you should know. Check back every once in a while and say hello and feel free to buy some stuff on Etsy. I'll try to update it again soon!

Love, Me

Many of you gave the nicest compliments about my Etsy items . . . unfortunately, every item is still residing in the shop. I can only assume the price tag was a too high so I've lowered my prices to promote some selling. If you like something, please buy! I am have scores of creative ideas for new products in mind; such as Christmas aprons, Amy Butler fabric bags, etc. but I can't afford to make anything until I sell a few things.

If you want something made (i.e. a painting, silhouette, Christmas cards, etc.) I will make it! Here are two sample Christmas card I designed for my family this year.

It is Thursday and I still haven't done the following things this week:

1) grocery shopping
2) fold clean laundry that has been in the basket since Saturday
3) make dinner (but there are good reasons)
4) unload the dishwasher
5) wash David's khakis
6) write "thank you" notes
7) lose 2 pounds

This week has felt like a dream, but not a good dream. Like a slow-motion, exhausting and sometimes-sad dream. Lots of visits to the hospital to visit David's grammy, tennis lessons, 3-hour haircut, mall returns, WWW ("West Wing Watching"), work assignments, school assignments, painting for my Etsy shop and various other things that fill up the time I have each day to myself between 3:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. In the next few days, I will accomplish more things on my list. "I know it!" (see Madama Butterfly - Un bel dì)

So, I leave you with one of my favorite "LOL Cat of the Day"s from Karren's blog. Thanks KT for always posting such hilariousness!

New "little ada treats" are up!

Check them out here!

Well, children. It's up and running . . . my "little ada treats" Etsy shop. Please, oh please, check it out here.