A first time for everything!

So I participated in my first craft show last weekend! It was held at a local church here in Cloquet, and I had a great time. The hubs helped me create this awesome display to showcase my note cards and prints. And my mom stayed home with my noisy, albeit lovable toddler! Thanks guys.

Please to observe pictures below.

Overall I was pleased with how things went! This being my first time, I was just hoping to cover my costs to purchase my spot in the event, but I was pleasantly surprised by my profit. Yay! I'm hoping to do more shows in Duluth this next year. Up nort ya know.

I haven't shared a ton about my art or projects lately, but I wanted to give a little update of the new items in my Etsy shop! We've got a few Christmas cards, and a new hummingbird and robin that weren't in there before.

Check them all out here to shop for your Christmas cards or unique gifts for your pals and fam!!

Oh, and happy turkey week, folks.

my christmas candles are still locked up tight

And so winter has arrived, with much to do. Six inches of it! Paisley was absolutely thrilled, a little more thrilled than myself, but that's usually what being a toddler is all about. Being thrilled about things that create work for your parents. And while the plus side of our new place is that there is about 60% less snow for us to shovel than our last place (or should I say, for the hubs to shovel), the downside is that we only have a small, old, one car garage with no garage door opener and a tiny driveway on a horrible slope that makes it hard to dig our two cars out of and get them out of the driveway without a good push.

And despite it all, despite the slippery roads and the necessity to give yourself twice as much travel time to your snowy destination, despite the mitten-less fingers that freeze as you scrape windows and buckle seat buckles, I'm not feeling quite as put out about it as I usually am. Instead I'm feeling a little bit...cozy? Dare I say...even a little bit Christmas-y? I am typically one to give an absolute strong "NO" to any type of Christmas ANYTHING before Thanksgiving is over, but this year I'm having a hard time not turning on the Christmas music. I'm trying to find the strength to turn on my chai tea Scentsy instead of pulling out my Christmas tree candles. After playing out in the snow yesterday we came in and started our fireplace and made hot chocolate and cuddled in blankets on the couch, and I was wishing that we had our stockings hung from the mantel with care. Christmas cookies, I want to eat all of you. What's happening to me? What is this place?

Here's Paisley's expression when the snow first started falling on Monday. Maybe it's the pure joy and glee of my child that makes me a little less of a snow grinch this year?

Well all I can say is that hopefully these cozy feelings last, because I'll bet my bottom dollar that we won't be seeing anything but white on the ground until April.

160 kids later, and I still had like ten pieces left

A week late, yes, but I couldn't resist sharing these photos of Paisley on Halloween. She calls this her "fwa fwa fee costume." Fwa fwa fee is Paisley-talk for butterfly, and I sincerely hope that she never learns the correct way of saying that word.

Also. Speaking of toddlers. And learning...we started the dreaded potty training. I'm not going to get into any nitty gritty details here...but I will say this:

For the love of everything, please send help.

Seriously, are there people out there who potty train toddlers professionally?? As their job?!? Because I will hire them. You wouldn't even believe how fast I would hire them.

Anyways. Here's Paisley running around trick or treating with her dad, and handing out candy with her mom! We handed out that candy like a couple of bosses. Our neighbors counted the amount of trick or treaters that we got on our street and it was 160. WHOAA! I went back and forth frequently between handing out candy by the fistfulls (we don't need all this candy in our house!!) and handing out only one piece per kid (oh no I'm running out, only one piece! Only one piece for everybody!!!)

By the way I'm not serious about hiring a potty trainer, however much I would love to be serious about it. Ain't nobody got money for that.

Except maybe celebrities and presidents and royalty and the like.


Just for kicks, here's my Halloween post from last year.

And one from 2011! I guess this blog is getting a little old?