Alice has arrived!

Belatedly announcing the birth of Alice Danger Moira Davis! (Yes, Danger is her middle name)

Our baby girl was born December 16, 2009 at 5:35 pm.  (Mommom’s birthday too!)  She clocked in at 7 lb 8 oz and 18 inches, and gave her mama quite a time!  She is absolutely gorgeous, and quite strong and curious already.  And so expressive! She’s very vocal, and makes lots of faces.  Alice is thriving, getting bigger every day, and stops traffic everywhere she goes.

Its been a whirlwind the past couple weeks, w/ the holidays, visitors, and a particularly nasty cold, and I apologize for taking so long to post the good news.

I hope everyone had as spectacular a Christmas as we did, and wishing you all a happy new year!

Home stretch

The end is nigh!  Since I'm walking around at just about 5 cm dilated already, the plan is to induce labor tomorrow morning.  Alice will be Mommom's birthday present!

I know that I won't be getting much sleep after she arrives, but even those couple hours at a time are sounding very nice right about now.  That, and fitting into something besides flip flops and the two shirts I have left..  Let's get this baby out before the Macy's parade people call!

So, a couple nights ago, I dreamed I went for a walk.  There I was, minding my own business, when complete strangers start walking up to me and handing me bottles of cleaning supplies. Telling me things like "That baby isn't here yet because your house is a mess!" or "She won't come until you have that place spotless!  Get moving!".

Eventually, I'm waddling through my neighborhood, with an overflowing armload of Lysol bottles, Clorox wipes, etc., while neighbors (one of which I think was the lady from the Pine-Sol commercials--when did SHE move in?!) are leaning out of the windows and hollering from their doorsteps at me to get cleaning, because that baby doesn't want to see a messy house.

But, my house IS clean.

The parts of it I can reach at least.

Places lizards should not be found

It’s been too long since I blogged. 

Would a funny story make up for my seeming betrayal?

Good!  Here goes…

Lately Miss Alice has been making sleep even more of a challenge than it usually is for me.  There is alot of shifting and a mountain of pillows of all shapes and sizes involved.  And don’t even get me started about what a production it is to fight through all of this when I need to exit the bed.

About 4am last night, I’m sleeping soundly for once.  Suddenly, I find myself standing at the end of the bed, fully awake and in some sort of plastic action figure battle pose.  All I remember is seeing a small, black, mean-looking lizard on my pillow next to me.  As in NEXT TO MY HEAD.  Unacceptable.

After a thorough search of the bed and surrounding area, including shaking out every one of the aforementioned mountain of pillows, I came up with no lizard.  Did I imagine him?  Dream him?  Is he just that fast?  I still don’t know.

Meanwhile, my back really hurts.  Turns out that, when triggering my reflexive ninja backflip from the bed, my brain failed to take into account the fact that my body is over 8 months pregnant.  Picture a hippopotamus trying to make it through the obstacle course on American Gladiators.  That’s a normal day for me right about now.  I won’t be surprised if Alice is born with a Nerf gun in hand.

So the rest of my night is spent in various locations throughout the house with a sprained back, trying to doze.  One cat, assuming that since I’m up, I should obviously be serving breakfast, follows me around poking at me.  Alice is inside kicking furiously, as if to say “What’s going on?  I can’t see a thing!”

Husband comes home from work, listens to my tale, checks the bed, proclaims me absolutely insane, and peacefully falls asleep in the lizard-infested bed without another thought. 

I do wonder if this entire episode is nothing more than the result of the small person inside of my just being hungry.  Or perhaps the imaginary lizard was eating imaginary bugs in the bed, which happen to be a recurring nightmare of mine.  In that case, I’ll let him do his imaginary job.

Let the husband deal with him now.

The Ghost Makes A Post

Just a quick update:

• My intermittent but well paying job being back to "uber-busy" mode
• Art commissions
• Third Trimester of Babyness

These are all factors which have contributed to my lack of posting, Twittering, and overall decreased presence on the Internets. When it rains, it pours, but I can;t complain. My apologies to any readers I still have!

Things will calm down in a few weeks, at which time I will have nothing to do besides work on the nursery and sit around catching up on my posting and chattering.

I can't wait!

When everything begins to taste like pie

It’s that season again.

Some call it fall.  Some call it autumn.  Some call it Thank-God-Those-Little-Hooligans-Are-Back-In-The-Hands-Of-Public-Education-Where-They-Belong-Hey-You-Get-Off-My-Lawn.

I call it punkin’ time.  Because whether you’re dealing with a cheesecake or an air cannon, punkin’ makes everything better.

In Starbucks the other day, I came upon the annual rollout of the Holy Grail of Punkin’ –the Spiced Pumpkin Latte .  Oh baby.

So tasty and momentous, this guy should have been behind the counter:”Very nice err..Cup Room you have here.”

And if that wasn’t enough, there was this amazing pumpkin cream cheese muffin, shouting “pick me, pick me!”. 

“THIS is the muffin of a carpenter!”

So I did.  I chose wisely.  And I have no regrets.

Because I’ll be doing this until the end of November.

More punkin’ goodness to come on Wandering Wednesday.

Feature Friday--BunnyKissd

Artists everywhere are getting into gear for the fall season, the time for cooler temperatures, outdoor festivals, and my personal favorite part, pumpkin-flavored everything.

This week, I’m featuring some of the great autumny items in FAE member BunnyKissd’s Fairie Gardens shop.

 

She’s also got some other wonderful items, including this adorable little guy:

Check out BunnyKissd in the latest FAE Exhibition and on her blog!

New FAE Exhibition Is Up!

The FAE have put together their latest online exhibition, “Moonbeams, Stars, and Comets”.  I love this theme, and the submissions are gorgeous!  The overall color palette is beautiful, as is the banner.

I think this is one is the one of best exhibitions yet!

Disney now owns another piece of the universe.

Those guys over at Penny Arcade always seem to know the perfect way to highlight the issues that matter to me.

So, if you haven’t heard yet, Disney just bought Marvel.

 

That's Disney, as in “Hi ho, hi ho, it off to work we go”.

And Marvel, as in "It's adamantium tasting time boys!"

This should be interesting.

 

I think it will shake out eventually to be for the better, so long as Disney lets Marvel keep doing what they’ve been doing lately.  And keep Hannah Montana far, far away from everything.  Stan Lee sounds ok with it, that’s somewhat comforting.

Know what I would really like to see?  A Professor X vs. Jafar matchup.  My bets are on Patrick Stewart there.

Feature Friday – Pumpkin Pye Boutique

And now for something completely different.

This week’s Feature Friday is Tiffany of Pumpkin Pye Boutique!

I haven’t featured an FEST (Florida Etsy Street Team) member in a while, and thanks to my mom, I’m paying a lot more attention to polymer clay artwork lately.  And stumbling upon Tiffany’s stuff just cracks me up!

Seriously.  Look at these.

Kooky.  Wacky.  With a dash of awesome.

It’s mac ‘n’ cheese! Who doesn’t love mac ‘n’ cheese? 

(If you just said you don’t, you’re a Communist.)

Check out her Etsy shop for her felts and other crafts too.

Wandering Wednesday

Button Cutting Machine, Illinois State Museum

A little known industry in the late 1800’s and early half of the 20th century was button making.  Although many of the large factories were focused along the Mississippi River, home button cutters could be found anywhere there were shells to be harvested. 

My grandfather was one of these button makers, hand cutting and polishing beautiful shell buttons (popularly known as ‘pearl’ buttons for their shiny mother of pearl surfaces).

Learn more about shell button history here.

Craft Show Tips

Here in Florida, crafters are gearing up for the show season.  The upcoming holidays and the respite from the summer heat make autumn the most popular time for outdoor shopping.

Although my show plans this fall are limited to none (that third trimester will my couch look much more appealing), I wanted to share this article from The Handmade News (tweeted by @ArtFireJohn).  Some great tips in here for those of you looking to take the sidewalk plunge!

A couple of my favorites:

Communicate with fellow crafters when given the chance.
Conversing with the other crafters at events you attend can be one of your most important craft show resources, especially locally. You can gain some fantastic advice and take notice of tricks and trends that work to grab sales for others. Exchange biz info with others, and create a network where you all can keep each other informed of upcoming events, news and info. Be sure when conversing with fellow crafters though, that you are not interrupting sales at their booth or at yours!

This is so important!  My first show was disappointing saleswise, but I have never learned so much.  Most of your fellow crafters are veterans on the circuit,  brimming with wisdom they are happy to share.  Particularly if you are a fairly young crafter like myself—they are thrilled to see new blood keeping the tradition alive.  Look at other displays, find out what works, and take notes.  Keep your ears open and you’ll come out way ahead in information. 

Personal tip:  make friends with your immediate neighbors and, if they are willing, attach your canopies together.  The added weight can be a lifesaver when the wind picks up, not to mention making yourselves a more appealing spot to wait out a sudden shower.

Have business cards or brochures ready at all times.
This is your business's identification after all, you want to make sure you give these out wherever the opportunity presents itself. Also, make sure you include a couple of extra biz cards with every purchase so the buyer can remember where they got it, and can share your information with other potential customers. You will also want to make sure that a biz card goes with every sample you hand out.

 

I try to keep small stacks all around my booth—on the table, mounted to the display wall, on the outside edge of your booth, etc.  The ideal is to physically put a card in every hand, but if you are distracted, your information is still accessible to even the ‘swoop and grabs’.  This may translate to an online sale later.

Another idea:  have a dedicated sign or banner with your business name and logo.  This will make you look more established and make your ‘brand’ stand out in the sea of white and blue EZ-UPs.  (Not to mention help you find your way back from the bathroom!) Show your talent.  If you work in wood, make a nice hanging wood sign.  You may even get a custom commission for something similar! 

Good luck to all of you!

Radiance Art on Facebook!

I’ve been on the fence as far as whether to give Radiance Art it’s own Facebook page.  But after some chatting with the FEST girls this week, however, I think the balance has tipped.

So here it is!

It’s not much now, but I’ll do more once I figure out what on earth I’m doing.

Thanks for being a fan!

Feature Friday--Aquariann

This week I’m spotlighting FAE pencil artist (and fellow Delawarean*) Kristin of Aquariann!

Kristin does so much hard work for the FAE, to include keeping an eye on the site, putting together the exhibitions, and being an all around inspiration for the rest of us. 

And somewhere in between all that, she manages to find the time to produce some gorgeous art:

Kristin has this great way with her pencils that channels Amy Brown while at the same time having that ‘something else’ that is all her own.

Learn more about Kristin and her art here and follow her on Twitter.

 

 

* (I might live in Florida now, but I’ll always be a Slower Lower Sussex County girl deep down!)

Wandering Wednesday

In honor of the Nature Conservancy’s efforts to restore the oyster reefs in Florida’s Indian River Lagoon, this week’s picks feature the humble (and delicious) oyster and the beautiful gems they produce.

 

Passing this along…

…because who doesn’t like free coffee?

I know I do.  Free is one of my favorite words.

Wandering…Friday?

Because I missed Wandering Wednesday, and forgot to pre-write my Feature Friday post.

We can try again next week.  But for now, be distracted by the pretties.

 

Feature Friday--SoapRehab

My mom used to make soap.  I remember one of her first batches:  a (seemingly) massive brick of caramel-colored goat’s milk soap which came to be know around the house just as ‘GoatSoap’.  It sat out in the porch with a knife stuck in it until we eventually whittled it down (breaking the knife in the process).

It wasn’t perfect.  I can’t remember if it was supposed to be scented or unscented.  (It was neither, technically.)  But that soap was awesome.  I was sad when it was gone.  I’ve tried my own hand at working the magic that is saponification, with lackluster results that make GoatSoap look like a spa exclusive.  But since that first introduction, my favorite treat for myself is a fresh bar of homemade soap.  An affordable little reason to get up and get a shower in the morning.

Sara’s SoapRehab soaps have to be some of best I’ve come across so far.  I snagged one of the last bars of ‘Nature’s Child’ a few months ago, and was in love. 

It had a rich lather, yet didn’t melt away in a week like many handmade soaps are prone to doing.  The smell: not overwhelming, elusive but so enjoyable.  My skin felt and smelled great for hours afterward, and the shape fit perfectly into my clumsy little hand.  The grapefruit sample that came with made a fantastic kitchen sink soap, too!

After trying some other Etsy soaps on my list, I made my way back to Sara’s shop.  My recent acquisitions:

(I love the minimal packaging too.)

And samples!  Woot!

Once again, the soaps do not disappoint.  They smell like what they should, but still have that underlying “something else” that is so addictive. Good stuff.

Check out SoapRehab on Etsy and in blog form.

Return of the Prodigal Blogger

I know I’ve been pretty quiet for a couple weeks.  Been on a bit of a roller coaster.

Looked like I had a nice large commission materializing.  I was really excited.  Unfortunately, due to some sucky circumstances I’d rather not get into, it’s fallen through, and most of my good mood and optimism fell with it.  As many of us artists and crafters know, that’s one of the perils of working for ourselves and trying to make a life out of something we love.

Still doesn’t mean I can’t mope and be depressed about it.  At least for a little while.

Time to get back in the saddle.

From high to low to another high:

 

Meet Alice!

This 10oz little girl is 21 weeks old and growing as perfect as she can be.  She enjoys bananas, Comedy Central, and long evenings practicing her roundhouse kicks.  She’s counted to infinity.  Twice.

Sit down and count your blessings sometime.  You might be surprised how many you find.