Blogfire: Of the Season

The Blogfire carnival this week is about the best of the season. I'm in the U.S., so we are heading into warm weather...well, someone forgot to tell Mother Nature, but I am hopeful. I did some browsing around ArtFire and found these lovelies that reflect what I see as my fave parts of the season. Enjoy.

Bicycle Basket Liner by Katie Kouture




Wooden Decorating Block Set - Parsley, Sage, Rosemary & Thyme by Audzipan






Burgundy and White Cotton Print Summer Dress by Ramonalisa






Plain Bio Leather Sandals by Sandali





Tree of Life Bubble Wand by Purple Bus Studio

True Sign of Spring

Our weather has been a bit back and forth these past couple weeks. This is quite normal for Michigan. Frost on the car one morning, wearing shorts the next day and then back to frost again. So how do I know when it is Spring? Well, the days of warmth sure help indicate a change. So does the green grass and buds on the trees. And these flowers popping open in my front yard are a biggie.

But the biggest indicator for me. Shoes. When it is time to switch from these:

To these:

Now...it is Spring :)

Etsyblogger Carnival: New Things

This carnival is hosted by Rainy Day Art. Our choices were
1) Spring is a time for new things and growth. Tell us about a new item and what inspired you to create it...OR... 2) Easter is April 4, what family traditions do you do for Easter? Since I already did some snippets about Easter, I am going for new stuff.

New Stuffies to be exact. My shop has recently been invaded by monsters. They are rather friendly, a tad on the mischievous sides perhaps, but still lovable. They were actually created a while back, but only recently banned together for a formal invasion.
The little guys were sent in on the first wave. Sounds about right - toss in the grunts & stand back to see what happens. This was the initial front line:

The first wave was in no way harmed, so the bigger guys decided to step up to the plate and slip into the shop too. They are too large to be key guardians, but still small enough for a good cuddle. or perhaps a lookout. Especially the blue dude....he does not move too fast....tiny legs and no arms can do that to a monster.
See...cute, right? They are more of a guardian than a warrior. I know I have not lost my keys since they arrived. There are still a handful of doodles waiting to be brought to life. Perhaps I can work on them after I finish up my bridal party order. Maybe I will use some scraps from that to help make the next batch. Will that make them cannibals? Perhaps...

So how did they come to life? My monster buddies all rose from the same batch of doodles & sketches. Add some fabric bits, felt, embroidery thread, a button or 4 & a little stuffing...viola! Monsters :) The little blue guardian & blue dude lookout are actually from the same plans. Things can sometimes change during the conversion process...but not too much when you see them in order:

Etsyblogger Carnival: Spring

March 12th's carnival for the Etsybloggers is hosted by Made By Melissa.
Our choices were either Spring time or March being National Nutrition Month, National Irish American Heritage Month & National Women's History Month and pick one.

I used to study Exercise Science, so doing something about nutrition felt like work :P I do have a bit of Irish in me & hubby has even more, but that post would probably get too long...and I'd want a Guinness after, which I am currently out of. And Women's month...shouldn't they all be?

Anyway, i decided to stick with Spring because I am so eager for it. I am not usually like this. I get the usual drearies that most Michiganders do and this season was a pretty mild one for us. But for some reason, I am itching for Spring. I even noticed that my tulips started popping!! At least I am pretty sure they are tulips :P See...

And in my shop - tons of Spring! There is pink and general bright cheeriness everywhere! These are some of my faves:

Pink:
Candy Kaleidoscope Backpack, Blooms Handbag, Shadow Gold Clutch, Pink Pebbles Tote
Blue:
Illusions Capri Blue Backpack, Green Handbag, Butterfly Garden Clutch, Pink and Orange Purse

Spring Shows Its Face

Etsybloggers rock! Just a little pimpin' for my blogging buds on etsy. This is their...our...carnival after all.

...and now back to our regularly scheduled writing...

Spring's face?...well...its leaves anyway. That is my first Spring-y thing I noticed outside. I just hope they survive the 30*F weather we have been having lately. I am actually amazed that they keep coming up. They were planted long after I got the bulbs at a wedding, or was it baby?, shower. Sturdy little guys - hopefully the Spring weather will soon follow.



Birds coming back, I guess that's another sign of Spring. I have seen a few. And heard a few trying to get into our vents on the roof. I am not looking forward to climbing up there to check. But the bird I noticed the most was the first casualty of Spring....


...I knew I should have brought him inside, but my son loved looking out the window to watch him get buried in the snow.

Spring Items

Now it's time for my Artfire blogging carnival. We were asked what are our plans, promos, or new items for the season or what are our favorite spring colors, favorite things about Spring, favorite items we've found for Spring....and the possibilities are endless! So I decided to do some shameless self promotion and show off some of my Spring-y bags.

This first one was fun to make. I took the main fabric, which is an outdoor canvas twill, and handstiched some fun blobby shapes onto the one side. I used a wooden bracelet on the loop handle which is knotted.


This next one is darker, but the print is quite Spring-y. It's kind of a floral paisley Lefluer (is that how it's spelled? not sure). The name was fun to come up with. I almost called it The Alien because the way it looks when open reminds me of those pods from the movie. But The Alien sounds like it should look fun & whimsical. So I went with Venus for venus fly trap...similar to the alien pod, but ledd deadly. Unless you are a fly.





This last one is my husbands favorite. The bright colored fabric was actually my second piece. I had the lining from another bag, but the buyer changed their mind & went with a different lining. This time I am the one who changed their mind. This fabric was way more fun than the first one I picked out. But what I really love about this super huge purse (it's 13" wide, 11" high & 6" deep) is the flap decoration. I wanted to use some of my buttons. This was the 3rd look. What do you think?

Etsyblogger Carnival: Spring is About to be Sprung

This Etsyblogger Carnival theme...Spring :)

Do I look forward to Spring? Heck yes!!! I prefer Autumn...but Spring rocks because it means winter is over. O.V.E.R. Done. Kaput. "Snow go bye-bye" as my oldest once said when he was much (much) younger. I just really get sick and tired of the freezing cold and snow. It lasts too long and here in Michigan, it teases us once or twice that it's leaving. Big meanie.

But when Spring finally hits...ahhhh, so much better. I would not say I have SAD, but most Michiganders seems to have a touch of it at some point during all the dreary. And Spring lifts up that veil of blech and I start to feel so much more energized. Which leads me to my Spring activity... cleaning.

I know it's cliche, but I do the whole Spring Cleaning thing. I try not to call it that since I am not doing it simply because of the time of year. I just finally feel like moving, getting off my toosh (which is usually a tad larger than a few months previous) and clear out the clutter. The kids tend to have fewer toys, hubby less clothes and me just less junk after this process has taken hold.

So - gotta go - the sun is almost up :)