Where have I been?

I have been in a lot of places and all have kept me away from the blogging world. But alas, I am back with a new point view, a new career, and new found love for knitting and crafts.

A big part of my hiatus was returning to school to complete my Montessori Teacher Training. Over the summer I left I my children in Kingston (with dad) during the week and headed to Ottawa all by lonesome. Although very challenging, it was well worth the sacrifice and had a huge impact on my outlook of the future.

What does this mean for my blogging world? A little less craziness and a little more focus, with some Montessori flair for good measure. I will continue to update on my crafting adventures in knitting/crocheting, but will also now blog about my life as an intern in a Montessori Casa Class! I am sure my ups and downs as a new teacher will be both entertaining and hopefully helpful to some as well.

The main focus of this blog will remain as a running journal of my life for both myself and my family. If you enjoy it or find it useful that is a bonus. If there is something you take a liking to please let me know and I will know to post more about that subject.

I am off now to make dinner, do laundry, and other household task that I have been putting off.

A great little quote....

Cooking and cleaning can wait till tomorrow,
For babies grow up, we've learned to our sorrow.
So settle down cobwebs, dust go to sleep,
I'm nursing my baby and babies don't keep.

-Unknown

Raggedy Anne and Andy

For generations my family has handed down this pair of Raggedy Anne and Andy dolls. I believe they were originally made by my great-great grandmother for my grandma and then passed down from there. Anyway, these dolls have been well loved by many children in my family. My recent obsession with clothespin dolls had me looking at the old Raggedy Anne and Andy in a whole new way. A revelation - they are clothespin dolls!

So, my oldest daughter and I decided one day (while she was confined to the couch after breaking her foot) that we would try to make our own version of Raggedy Anne and here she is:



Her name is Annie and she now known as a Boobalou Buddy. I love her so much and my daughters instantly wanted more Annie's to play with. She is small and fits really nicely in little hands. I think I will be making many of these....so many variations....not enough time:)

Sold!

Today I opened a new store on Esty - PixyDustDesigns.etsy.com and I sold the Heart Pendant pictured in my last post within an hour:) Sooooo, exciting!!!

I am loving this new avenue of jewelry making. Today I opened the store on Etsy and tomorrow I start my Stained Glass class at the Glass House here in Kingston. This I hope will lead to some exciting stained glass pendants in my new Etsy shop in the near future. I also just like the thought of learning something new. I have soldered nothing in my lifetime and thought now would be a great time to learn. I feel open to the possibilities that glass will have and very excited to learn something outside of my current comfort zone.

Here are some things just posted on Etsy

Obsessive Compulsive Creative Disorder

I was reading something the other day and this phrase came up. It's me in a nut shell - The Obsessive Compulsive Creative Disorder - describes me to a T! Love it and thought I would share this little bit of Crafting humour. I now have a place where I completely fit in. I should start a support group for those suffering/smiling from Obsessive Compulsive Creative Disorder - Want to join?

Knitting my family history

A couple of months ago I came across a very unique pair of mittens at Wool-Thyme, my local yarn store. I asked Anne, the owner, what the pattern was called, she told me they were honeycomb mittens, AND it was the free pattern of the month. So, not only did I come home with some great new yarn, I also came home with the pattern to make my own honeycomb mittens.

Once home I wanted to know a little bit more about these mittens and did a quick google search. Low and behold I found another name for the honeycomb mitt, a.k.a the Newfie Mitt. Now it all started coming together. I HAD seen these mittens before but mostly knit in horrendous colours with very cheap yarn. Therefore, I never really considered how to make them or the warmth they would provide. Taking a second look, and seeing the great colours used at wool-thyme, instantly had my mind racing with ideas. Oh, the colour combinations and luxury yarns that I could use....let the daydreaming begin.

Here's the really fun part! My dad was visiting a couple weeks later, while I was in the midst of my second pair of Newfie Mittens (I needed to adapt the pattern to make correct sizes and get rid of the contrast bumbs showing in the purl rows), and he remembered wearing these mittens as a child. My dad being a Newfie himself and growing up with 20 brothers and sisters, he distinctly remembered the "Newfie" Mittens being warm and dry! Now I am off to find out who did the knitting and see if I can find the original pattern used by family. Maybe I will even get a few stories about my family along the way. So much fun, I LOVE knitting!

Two is better than one , right?

Two years ago I was the only person not on Facebook, I avoided email, and never had my cell phone charged. And look at me now, the proud owner of two blogs. Why two you may ask?

I started my blog Bake Happy as a visual journal for myself of the treats, sweets, and food I shared with family and friends. It has grown to include my love for alternative diets including vegan and raw foods. I have also joined the Foodie Blogroll, Participate in the Foodie Joust, and joined the Daring Bakers with my first challenge to be in December. Lots of fun but not a place to blog about the other half of my life - Boobalou.

Which brings me to why I have started another blog. The Boobalou Blog is an outlet for my artsy self. Boobalou has been many things over the years, but I have finally settled and love it for what it was originally intended - A craft outlet for Handmade Goods. The first step in this endevour was to re-open my old etsy store - Boobalou, Naturally Handmade for You and then to create this blog as way to seperate my two loves. So, to keep it simple you may now read about my crafting ventures here and my baking/foodie ventures at Bake Happy.