Xavier's Homebirth

This is a little late I know, since my baby is now just over 1 year old. But, everybody loves a good birth story, right!
So here's mine (my most recent that is):

and just for fun, here's my favorite pregnancy photo
Shepard and I are both showing off our bellies

I started having mild contractions early in the day on Oct.2. They were really sporadic and didn't last long, but I was still excited and had the feeling my little one would be coming soon!

Around 7 or 8pm my husband and I took our older son to my mom's to stay the night there since I was starting to have stronger contractions and knew it would be that night.

I sat around waiting for things to get stronger for a couple hours (drank my super strong raspberry leaf tea. It tasted horrible, but I managed to swallow about a cup and a half)

Around 11 or 11:30 I decided to get into the birth pool 'cause I was bored and wanted labor to start. And, that it did! The contractions started getting stronger and closer together right away, and kept progressing. I had David time them when I was really feeling things happening, and they were 5 minutes apart, so I told him to call my midwife. He did, and she was on her way.

here I am about an hour before he was born. Can you believe I'm still smiling!?

Right before my midwife got there I started feeling like my body needed to push. So I did. I was so surprised at how fast it was all happening! When she got there she talked me through the contractions, 2 I think. Then, when she was in my kitchen getting supplies ready I felt his head coming down. I told David, who was sitting beside the birth pool, holding my hand. And, with a look of shock he yelled to her.

Even with how intense I appeared David still thought I was kind of exaggerating, since I was pushing for a couple hours with our first son. But not this time!
So, I pushed my tiny guy out and my midwife placed him on my chest.

Here we are right after he was born

My sweet Xavier was born at 1:08am, and I actually got some sleep that night!

This was an awesome birth experience. I was in active labor for only about 2 hours.

And, I have to mention that I attribute much of the ease of this birth with the herbs I used during pregnancy, labor and after the baby was born. I drank lots of raspberry leaf/nettle tea during the last 3 months of my pregnancy, during labor, and after. And used Blue and Black Cohosh the day that I went into labor (one is known to soften the cervix, the other is known to begin labor, and that they did!)

Wise Woman Herbal for the Childbearing Year by Susun Weed, was the book that really helped me.

Free shipping on Everything in my shop all this week!

And, I've listed lots of new items!

Fall is Coming....

Living here in the Central Valley of California the weather is still telling me it's Summer, with the cloudless sunny days and balmy nights.
But, I've switched over to Autumn mode. It may have been the pumpkin display at my local grocery store that got me excited and ready for the new season. But, I'm ready to throw on a cozy scarf and hat.



Autumn is one of my favorite times of year (a close second to Spring).
I'll be adding new things to my shop in the weeks to come that are inspired by this season of vibrant colors and rich fragrances.

Not to mention, for some reason I've got this urge to make spice cakes and pumpkin muffins...

I've been Published!

This month's issue of Belle Armoire magazine features an article written by myself! I'm so excited to be in this stylish magazine. If you'd like tio read my article and get the basic pattern for my crocheted crowns pick up a copy at your local craft or book store.

Those are my crowns and slippers

Back to Mt Shasta

It's the end of Summer and just the right time for a mini vacation. So, on a whim, David and I decided to head for the hills (or the Mountains that is). We packed up the kids and whatever we could fit in the car and drove to Mt. Shasta. If you've read my blog before you'll remember my affinity for this little town and it's looming Mountain. And, it didn't disappoint on this trip.

We visited a few of the local points of interest. There are so many beautiful places around the area it was hard to chose which to go to.

Castle lake was an 8 mile drive up into the mountains and was so beautiful and serene.
It is known as a 'true alpine lake'.
We took a short hike beside the lake on a rocky trail. And, the boys played in the crystal clear water. It was so quiet and peaceful.

We also went to lake Siskiyou, here's the boys enjoying the water there.

It was a great few days. I loved spending time in nature with my family, and breathing in the fresh air!

Adventures in Wet Felting

I've taken the plunge! After admiring and reading about wet felting for what seems like ages now I've finally given it a go. And I must say I'm impressed with myself. Either I'm some kind of amazingly crafty lady who can master any medium in no time, or wet felting is a pretty simple craft. Well, maybe it's a little of each!

I'm way too new at this to start giving tutorials, but here's a few pictures of how I created a leaf pouch (which isn't finished yet, btw)

Here's my fibers all laid out, ready to be wet down:












Here's the leaf starting to come together:













And, here's a picture of all the felting I did today, including the leaf in the above pictures:













So, I'm pretty excited about this wet felting experience. I've got lots and lots of ideas for things to felt up! There's just not enough time in the day!

Look what I got:

I'm in love with this group of supplies I've got here. They came from Freckle Face Fibers, and Rosie Pink, both fellow Etsy sellers.
I had to set them up and take an official photo, since they are the basis for the new project I am working on for an apron publication. You'll have to wait until February to see the final manifestation of these scrumptious fibers (that's when the magazine will be published), but I'll be posting teasers here once in a while because I just can't keep this one all to myself for that long ;-)

My First Front page Feature on Etsy!

Yay! There's my little pumpkin stamp in the bottom corner, there. I know that the photo is grainy and weird, but I just had to commemorate the event by taking a picture of my computer screen :-)

RosiePink: Amazingly Felted Goodies

rosiepink is a mum and daughter venture, born of a desire to create beautiful textile items.

Lyn:
My name's Lyn and I'm mum. I was born in Southampton on the south coast of England in the UK. I still live there with my husband and I’m also lucky to have my parents living with me in their retirement. I work part-time in a small library which is an ideal job for me as I’m an avid reader.
As a child I was taught to sew, embroider, knit and crochet and when my children were young, sewing and knitting was an economical way of clothing the family, so the skills were used in a utilitarian way - not as a hobby.
Annie:
I'm Annie and I'm daughter. I live in Bournemouth (also on the South Coast of England) with my husband. Until two years ago I was employed as a computer programmer but I finally realised that the pressure and being in an office all day didn’t suit me at all and I gave it up to pursue making our small business dreams a reality.
I love all kinds of arts and crafts including machine and hand embroidery, crochet, knitting, painting, sewing – anything colourful with lots of texture always grabs my eye.

Both:
Home for us is the south coast of England and we are lucky enough to be able to walk on the beach or take a stroll in the New Forest where the colours and textures all around us are a constant source of inspiration. Back in the workroom time flies - an hour can seem like a few minutes because the process of creation is so absorbing and fulfilling for us.
We are basically lifelong crafters with a love of all things textiles and fibre, and we began our adventures in feltmaking several years ago when we attended a one day feltmaking workshop – we were hooked right from the start and couldn’t wait to learn more. Now, feltmaking is our main passion. We love to combine our felt with other fabrics and hand and free machine embroidery to create unique pieces – stitching on felt gives such beautiful textures. We also like to use lots of inclusions in our work e.g. hand dyed scrim, yarns, silks and sparkly bits.We love anything and everything art and craft and enjoy mixing up techniques and different media, especially in picture making.

As well as making items to sell we also sell wool tops and our hand-dyed fabrics for feltmaking. Our artwork is currently available for sale at a local gallery. The next part of our plan is to create lots more beautiful, sunny felt pictures which we will write about on our blog and also will list for sale at Etsy.

Rosie Pink Etsy shop

Rosie Pink Blog

Banana Treats

Ingredients:
1 banana, chopped
raisins
creamy peanut butter

Here's a fun, healthy recipe that we've been making with Shepard for a while now. Now, 3 1/2 years old, he's been able to assemble these treats completely for over 6 months. Of coarse the bananas are a little lop-sided and the peanut butter is messier than necessary, but he takes great care to place 1 raisin atop each peanut buttered banana slice. So, if you've got little ones at home give this one a try and let me know how they like it!

I love Mt Shasta

My boys and I spent the 4th of July weekend with family, in the little town of Mt. Shasta CA, way up north in the fresh mountain air.
I really do love it there. With the mountain looming in the distance, overlooking the town, it has such a majestic presence. There is so must natural beauty all around this place. And the little town is quaint and homey.



I took lots of pictures so I thought I'd share them here.







We took lots of walks and Shepard got to feed horses for the first time. We fed them dry grass that was growing everywhere.













And, I just have to share these. I got Shepard a red balloon at a festival we went to. I heard him behind me making lots of noise, and I see him thrashing around with his balloon.




















He was having a blast, and didn't stop for a few minutes, long enough for me to snap a few pictures.
I got to see a great performance too. The people who do it travel in a purple bus that runs on vegetable oil. And, they make beautiful sustainable clothes and accessories.



Here we are in the chilly creek that runs through the town park. The water was so fresh and clean, with so many green and lush plants surrounding it.




















But, we really spent most of our time at my uncle's house, playing on his giant front lawn and sitting in the shade of the
tall trees.

Who's Hungry?

If you've read my previous post and taken a look at my Etsy shop recently you are well aware of my current love of stamp carving! I just can't stop!

I love fruits and veggies, and I'm always thinking of a new aid to encourage the family to eat lots of them. So that is part of the reason that I decided to create a series of fruit and veggie stamps. It started with the cherries, pear and apple and just keeps growing.

My current favorite is the salad set, but the carrot is a close second.

I haven't decide what to make next, but I'm sure the 'fruit and veggie series' hasn't stopped here, all I need is a little inspiration and I'll have another yummy stamp to add the the bunch!

Hand Carving Stamps: My New Obsession!

I was so excited when I learned that I could carve my own stamps using rubber blocks and simple carving tools (Both available for your local craft supply store, for me that's 'Michaels')! Maybe it's partly because carving the stamps takes me back to my childhood days of cutting and scraping designs into my school erasers.
It's really enjoyable to create a stamp using my own drawings. I've got so many ideas, these are just a few of my first designs. Check out my Etsy Shop if you'd like to see my newest designs.

I highly recommend stamp carving to those of you who are crafty types. If you would like to learn more there is a plethora of information on the web, here's a place to start: Ruthann's Soft-Block Carving

Anthemis nobilis

Chamomile is said to be one of the oldest favorites amongst garden herbs and it's got quite the reputation as a medicinal plant. It is considered a tonic, achic, anodyne and antispasmodic. And, can be prepared as a decoction, an infusion, and an extract.

To my delight this unassuming and delicate beauty grows wild in my back yard.

I haven't done much but admire it yet. But, I'm looking forward to drinking lots of soothing tea, and soaking my hair in it. Chamomile tea is said to make hair shiny and enhance natural highlights (I'll let you know if it does).

And contact me if you would like some of your own seeds I'd be happy to send you some, so you can have this little cuties in your own yard!

Movin' Day

I'm sure everyone says this, but I can't believe how much Stuff we have!! I mean, not until I had to pack it all in boxes did I realize how much there is. Even with Garage sales, donating, selling on Craigslist and giving things to family and friends we still filled up the entire moving truck!
I'm glad it's all over (well, not really since not everything has been unpacked yet.) Just thought I'd share a couple pictures with you.