Adventures…and a sale!

I'm still alive everyone!  Sorry to be so scarce, been some busy times with Baby Alice, who is now 7 months old, almost walking, and into EVERYTHING.

First beach day!

Also had an interesting trip to the homeland (Sussex County, Delaware) with my parents in their new-to-them RV.  Took us 4 days, 2 blown tires and a popped sparkplug to get there.  Waiting on the shoulder for a mechanic has never been so comfortable, though.

But our biggest news is:  we're buying a house and moving to Austin, TX next year!  Can't wait, we're so excited!  Love that town!

So, as a result of our impending move to awesome Austin, as well as the logistics of having a small baby in the house, I'm taking a hiatus from my Tiffany stained glass for a while. I'm working on some new painted glass items that are easier to do with my limited time and space which I'm happy with so far.  I used to do custom painted hurricane lamp centerpieces for weddings many years back, so this is a bit like returning to my roots now.

But meanwhile, I've got a whole bunch of one-of-a-kind stained glass artwork that I really don't want to pack into a U-Haul.

Therefore, all stained glass items in my store are on clearance! Everything has been discounted AT LEAST 20% off my original prices!

The fantasy stuff...the geeky stuff...the clocks...ALL OF IT MUST GO! Come and visit!

RADIANCEART ON ETSY

PS.  Through the end of July, mention 'SLOWERLOWER' in your buyer notes, and get free shipping off any item in the shop!

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.

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.

Wandering Wednesday

This week, I’m casing the joint with Baby Bunny in mind.

Feature Friday –Three By Sea

This week, I’m featuring Team FEST (Florida Etsy Street team) member Nicole of Three By Sea!

Named for herself, husband, and son, Three By Sea embraces the easy breezy Gulf Coast Florida lifestyle.  Her inspiration is everything tropical and seashore.

I think my favorite thing about her work is the absolute simplicity of it all.  The color palette is limited, yet so perfectly chosen and executed that just a couple shades of blue can speak volumes.  What I love about block print art is how it reflects the artist’s clarity of voice and style, and Three By Sea’s work is no exception.

And the onesies.  Oh my goodness the onesies.

You can bet my little one-to-be will be sporting a couple of these.

Check her out on FEST and Twitter, as well as her blog.  Quite entertaining, it is.

Banana Fana Fo Fanna

One of the inevitable side effects of being pregnant is that you get into a lot of conversations about names.  That little pick-your-produce-of-the-week sized thing you’re toting around in there needs to be called something.

So all of a sudden your inner English major takes over, and things like alliteration and iambic pentameter and 3-4 letter words become really important (More so if you or your spouse actually IS an English major, like mine.  If so, proceed to Step 3: beating head against wall).

And if you have multiple existing children, or a particularly…er..’creative’ husband, or really like rhythmic rules (or all of the above, you know who you are <wink>), then things get exponentially complicated.

babynamewizard.com is the best source I’ve seen so far.  It can handle even the pickiest criteria, as well as suggest an alternative spelling even wackier than the one you were considering.  And where else can you get a chart of the most popular names in Iowa in 1961?  Or see a name graph that looks like something out of a geology textbook?

Popularity of names starting with A

I can play with this stuff for hours.

And then I have My Yahoo’s random baby name of the day.  And they do mean random.  A few gems:

Beorhthramm    Hud    Helma    Zerlinda    Abooksigun

Thieny    Awarnach    Now   Alberteen    Felabeorbt

(Bonus points:  Guess the intended genders!)

I realize many of these may be common names elsewhere;  I just want to illustrate the sheer thoroughness of this particular name generator.  Now if only they had a pronunciation guide.

As for our names, we’ve been discussing this for years, and after much negotiating and threats of temper tantrums, we are mostly settled.  The boy name still has some kinks to work out, but I’m a little in denial until the next ultrasound forces the issue.  That, and I LOVE (most of) our girl name.  However, I’m not sharing online as of yet, because if I do then I’ll start seeing it everywhere.  That’s how these things seem to happen, and I’m somewhat paranoid anyway.  That, and this was an excruciating process—I can’t do any take-backsies now.  Sorry.