currently. (aka: alive & kicking)

watching: Now that the Christmas season is over and I’ve been through Elf, Love Actually, A Christmas Carol, and yes, Badder Santa a hundred times…I’ve moved on to back seasons of Always Sunny in Philadelphia to keep me laughing as I scurry around my house cleaning, organizing, and creating space for the new year. It’s been a great choice so far - I highly recommend.
listening to: Joy the Baker podcasts and just knowing we would be friends if we knew each other.

thinking about: change, cleansing my home for simplified living, what actions I want to take to be happier, healthier, and more productive. And of course, how I’m going to go about my Project Life album for 2014…am I going big again or taking it down a notch by using a Handbook….

looking forward to: starting fresh again. The new year is always a great excuse to do this and give meaning to all those things I want to do and maybe actually do them all in the name of “new.” I don’t do resolutions for obvious reasons, but I do partake in projects throughout the year to maintain focus. I’m looking forward to seeing what this new year brings and making a pact with myself that it HAS to be different than 2013. It has to.

reading: I just dove into Book One of The Clan of the Cave Bear series. My sister-in-law is way ahead of me, and has been distracted by it ever since she started reading so I knew it was one I wanted to read. Getting lost in a story is something I have always loved, so here I go.

making me happy: my Christmas tree. I know Christmas is over, but I can’t wait to turn the lights on in the morning and see it standing there in all of its magic and glow. I hate taking it down and put it off for as long as I can stand it. I try not to let it carry into the new year, but sometimes I just can’t help it. If it makes me happy, why deny myself?

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season and thank you so much for reading and supporting this space of mine. I am not a regular blogger and idolize anyone who is. It is a space for me to feel like I am connecting with like-minded folks out there, and I hope to take it up a notch in 2014 with a new design and more scheduled postings of my daily life, projects, and thoughts on current social themes…because boy do I have a lot. :) So, again, thank you for hanging out with me and I look forward to what this space will bring in the coming new year.

around my town: holiday market.

We put on our first Holiday Market at the Birdshit Saloon last Saturday promoted by and featuring a local potter in the Lynchburg area. We used to throw in some local crafts on our farm open house days, but it’s been a while. We had a nice turnout and hope that the event will grow each year. That is, if we do it again…which I think it’s all pretty unanimous that that will happen. It was nice for folks to have a one-stop-shop destination, all local, and they got to talk to all of the vendors who were all family and close friends. We saw a lot of familiar faces, but there were a few new ones which was nice to see that word got around and interest was shown in putting on something like this in our area.

This pottery is made by Bea Clements, who was the featured craftsperson of the day. I think her pottery style is so pretty with the carved lines and earthy colors. I ended up buying a new mug for the coffee I’m really not supposed to be drinking…oh well. See that line of brown mugs? Yeah, that’s mine all the way in the back. Love it.

Here was my little setup which I really enjoyed. I love Christmas lights so much, so once these were added, it was like, Boom. I actually displayed my stamps which I’ve been against in the past for some reason, but it seemed to click that this was gonna be the setup from now on. Not sure where my ‘display head’ has been lately, but each time I set up my table, I can’t help but learn so much for the next time. The pegboard behind my table held my sign and a few woven wall hangings I made to sell, which I ended up selling all but one of them. If you follow me on Instagram (@petaline) you may have seen the one I just finished last week. Yeah, couldn’t sell that one yet…and not sure if I’m ever going to. Maybe if I make some more like it, it won’t seem so special because it’s pretty darn awesome to me at the moment. Toot toot!

Next to me was my sister-in-law’s father with his awesome metal art. He never ceases to amaze us with his work and has quite the family following around here…. Matter of fact, I got two of his works as birthday presents!! I love the copper with the dark metals…beautiful! 

My sister-in-law’s sister and brother-in-law were all set up with their goods from Owl Ridge. Maggie had jewelry, knitwear, and ornaments that she had made and Cody was selling his homemade soaps. I bought a few pieces from Maggie…I love her use of natural materials in her jewelry and makes it extra special when I know they came off the farm. They will be up here permanently after the middle of December and I see many a crafting soirees in our future…and maybe even a few craft show adventures. (If we can find some that fit our aesthetic. It’s been bleak around here.)

Our neighbor makes these incredible knives in his blacksmith shop and has recently teamed up with a few guys to expand their product line to include those awesome neck knives you see on the top row. They’ve been all the rage around here and top sellers when they set up at events. He handed me one for my birthday which I was pretty darn stoked about.

And then I just have to put this one of my niece so proud of her petaline prints. purchase. Let me tell you about this girl…killing it on sales. She set up a little table and was selling drawings from 12-5 without skipping a beat. When other girls came in with their parents, she coerced them to work the room selling her artwork. Hustlin’, I tell you. Love this girl.

// Reminder: Use code FESTIVE20 for 20% discount of total purchase in the shop until December 18th! //

our thanksgiving.

Just wanted to share some pictures from our Thanksgiving lunch this year. We usually celebrate down by the creek area like here and here, but since it has been cold as a witch’s *BLEEP*, we decided to bring it inside this year and take it to the Saloon. We had a delicious meal prepared by all of us and sat around a bustling wood stove to feast. It was a great way to spend the holiday…family, friends, and full bellies.

shop update + discount code.

I’ve added a few new holiday-inspired listings to my shop this weekend…I feel like this year is flying by so fast!! I can’t believe it’s already December…I already celebrated my birthday (yesterday)…and Christmas is right around the bend. I’ve hooked up a discount code (SPARKLE20) in honor of ‘Cyber Monday’ to take 20% off! So, when ya get to checkout, type in the code and you can get a little deal on your purchase!

New listings include:

I always love picking out the papers for these books, and I’ve been making my own for a few years now. I love the feeling of it all full in my hands, and it is such a great, simple, and quick way to capture the season in one place. Since everything is digital now, so many pictures just sit somewhere and never really get seen by others. I’ve enjoyed sharing what I’ve done with my books with family & friends…sure does bring back a lot of great memories. I’m pretty excited to fill in another mixed paper book this year, allowing my seasonal/holiday mini-book stash to grow. I just love seeing them all together on the shelf in my craft room. Matter of fact, I can finally start on it….

I’ve also designed some new stamps for the holiday season:

I’ve also added this gem which I think is pretty fun:

Do you do any sort of special documenting of the holiday season? I’d love to see!

here + there

Gearing up for the holiday season around here…lots of planning for decorations and gatherings. It’s also a big birthday time with my brother, myself, and niece celebrating within two weeks of each other. I like to stretch mine out for as long as I can though, don’t you? This current week is going to be so crazy busy, and a lot of outside events planned…which of course is when the cold front comes through. Oh well, I guess it’s just putting us in training for the winter. The word on the street (or country roads rather) is that we’re in for a cold one this year. I take that as meaning there is gonna be plenty of time for hunkering down inside where its warm with hot chocolate, movies, and crafting. In that regard, bring the cold!

I’ve been cranking out some crafts in hopes of shop updates and a holiday market we are having here on the farm this coming weekend. I’m totally obsessed with making woven tapestries at the moment, and plan on riding this obsession wave for as long as my back can take it. This  is one I am working on at the moment and it is turning into one of my favorites and I am loving the color scheme. I haven’t gotten to the point of planning out on paper what I am going to do, so it is always interesting to see where it takes me as I’m working. I’m loving where this one is headed.

Today is for drinking hot drinks, hanging around the wood stove, watercoloring envelopes for a stationery set I’m putting together, and hopefully finishing up some craft projects. I’ll let ya know how it goes….

Any big plans for your day?

// Let Us Give Thanks print by Caravan Shoppe found here + weaving loom by Martha Stewart found here //

thanksgiving invitations.

I have appointed myself as the 'invitation maker' for the family. It’s a job I love and I job that I am proud of, and 9/10 am absolutely in love with what rolls out with the mail. The leftover 1/10 is when I feel rushed or just can’t find that special something that my vision is looking for. At the last minute (of course), I am pulling together our Thanksgiving invitations for this year. I have not talked to anyone about what we are doing, but I figure since I am making the invitations then I get to call the shots, right? Yep.

Using my October + November Project Life Kit* from Kelly Purkey, I chose some of the papers that I liked the best and cut some feathers out with my die-cut machine and these Lifestyle Crafts feather dies. I made up the invitation on my computer last year, so I just changed the font, the date, and moved some things around to better match up with this year’s design. I then used (for the first time!!) this awesome metallic gold thread on my machine and sewed the feathers down with a “spine-y” stitch, and folded up the edge of the feathers for a little texture. I just love the gold metallic with this color scheme….

I grabbed my kindly deliver to stamp to add a little pizzazz to the envelope and out they went for their ride on the Pony Express!

 

*This particular kit is sold out, but you can preorder the December Kit here.

submission.

As part of my "getting out there" goal/scheme, I grabbed my pride by the hand and we, as a team, sent in a submission for the 2014 Project Life™ Creative Team. I knew I wanted to do it the minute I saw Becky Higgins' blog post about it, so instead of hemming and hawing about it until the deadline past, I sent that bad boy in with a smile on my face and no expectations what so ever. Mainly just doing it for fun…which is just fine by me.

I chose 5 layouts from this year, including my second 2013 album's cover page. I am becoming more and more conscience of color themes, using what I have, and most importantly: SIMPLIFYING. This should not be a project that takes me a lot of time (minus printing the daggon pictures on a printer I want to throw out in the field and bash Office Space-style) or spend a lot of money on beside the core kit and some embellishments. I have been cleaning out my scrapbooking stash (which I am going to have some giveaways soon!!) and I feel like that has transfered over into my layouts. And this excites the heck out of me. 

getting out there.

I come up with ideas.

I make stuff.

I create a little stockpile of those things that I make.

Then what?

This is what I am on the search for…how do I get myself out there while still being the semi-shy, humble, observant, introvert that I am? This question has often made me wonder if this idea of a handmade business is a joke for me. At a certain point, you HAVE to let your guard down and make yourself be known. Aaaand this is where I have my roadblock. I don't know if it's insecurity or embarrassment or just plain shyness (probably a bit of all three), but it gets frustrating when I see others that are successful in their handmade business and I feel like I am still at step one-point-five. (OK, totally strange, but as I'm writing this, an Etsy sale just popped in my notification window, so at least I am on the right path!!) I wonder about what they could be doing differently (DOING being a big part of that), how they have the connections they have (BY DOING), and why didn't I think of that?(because they already DID it)…and as I'm sitting here processing this on the screen I'm seeing quite the pattern. It seems I am comparing my success to those that are already very successful and have been for some time. They might have years under their vintage leather belts and are projects ahead of me, so why in the heck am I am comparing myself to them?

Because they are where I strive to be someday. I'll just have to get over a few things first.

I love to come up with ideas and see them as a finished product. I love opening a box and there are multiples of stamps that I sat at my computer and designed for an hour or so. That feeling of holding a tangible design is so awesome. And I design them according to what I would like, and have all intentions to "sell out" but order frugally at first to see what happens. It then takes me a bit to get them on Etsy (should I move to Big Cartel??) and then I promote a little on here, a little on Instagram, and a little on Twitter. I will say, this last batch of listings was really successful compared to other shop updates - certainly giving me the buzz to continue on. Which I plan to do with some seasonal stamps and mixed paper books and a couple of holiday craft shows. So maybe I am on the right track as a focused and budding handmade business…maybe all of this preparation and inspirational comparisons I've out on myself are a good thing? As long as I see it like that, I guess so.

I just had an opportunity for one of my stamps to be featured on a daily discount site called Storefront Deals. They are new discount site focusing on handmade items who found me on Etsy and sent me a message asking if I would like to participate. I had never been approached with something like this and was a little nervous, but I didn't really have anything to lose, so I signed up for a couple day run on October 8th. They were running a promotion while they are still new where they take 15% of sales (as opposed to 20%) after the item is discounted by the seller. I chose my 'kindly deliver to' stamp and set a price, emailed a photo, and waited. I had no expectations, but I was still excited to log in and check out if I made any sales and gave out a few smiles when I saw that a couple had been purchased. I think it was a good starting point for folks to go from there to my shop and see what else I offered, and I would definitely do business with them again. They are still new, so there is only room to grow. It made me feel proud of my work and helped me feel motivated to create more, streamline my offerings, and put myself out there more…even if just a little bit at at time.

*If you got this far, I thank you. This was quite a jumble of thoughts.

today's the day.

One of my rubber stamps is featured on Storefront Deals starting today and available at this price for only a couple of days!! It has been marked down for the occasion and isn't something you'll want to pass up if you're in the market for a new stamp! It looks quite cute on outgoing mail and sure to make someone smile. :)

Get it here for a limited time!!

You can also check out my other stamps here…I'll be adding some seasonal ones soon!

currently.

//image via//

All of this stuff is swirling around in my head lately and I really can't even really begin to categorize it to make sense of it. So I'm going to try and put it in writing and see what happens. It's transition time to a new season. It's also the celebration window for Michaelmas with thoughts of good/bad, dark/light…roads that seem obvious to follow but you may meet conflict in trying to. Oh, I could go on…but I'll save it. See, my mind is everywhere I tell you! 

welcoming fall like nobody's business.

cracking my bedroom window to feel the new cooler air.

planning for a holiday craft show in the next town over in a little over a month.

riding this wave of contentment like I'm a girl version of Laird Hamilton.

enjoying delicious & hot coffee after a seasonal break.

keeping my eyes open for lavender coffee everywhere I go.

encouraging myself to be patient and let go.

wondering why I feel the most creativity when it's bedtime.

craving more bear hugs.

feeling okay about this whole 'no wheat' thing.

actually enjoying not eating wheat.

questioning my personality habits.

loving how snuggly Fern is all of the time. even when she follows me around waiting for me to lounge.

taking advantage of eBay to earn extra money.

smiling when an item in my shop sells.

taking notes for some new designs I'd like to pursue for the holiday season.

realizing I love being busy…with a free afternoon to look forward to.

breathing a sigh of relief when I have that free afternoon.

excited about a short trip out of town this weekend to visit family, shop a bit & see live music.

hoping I find the perfect shirt to wear. and maybe a black hat.

 

Have a great weekend!

 

 

 

etsy: new items added.

I just wanted to let you know I've added some new stamps to the shop! These stamps are designed by me and made in the good ole US of A. They are multifunctional with an emphasis on documentation - whether it be through scrapbooking and/or letter writing. I'm a big fan of both…as if you couldn't tell. I've also updated my shop to include international shipping and there are a few sale items (hint, the whole first row!!) that I'd like to move out. I am in the beginning stages of designing products for the upcoming holiday season, which will be listed as soon as they are in my hands.

It's been so fun to design and package these - go and take a look! :)

adventures in custom cross-stitch.

I found these pictures in my draft folder that I guess I forgot to add text and upload! Whoopsie!

This was a project I completed earlier this year as birthday presents for each of the three people represented. It was my first custom cross-stitch project and I am absolutely going to do some more! It was so fun to pick out the outfits and hairdos for them and the similarities are pretty awesome. Now I just need to go back and add their puppy they just got (and find an antique embroidery hoop). 

Let me know if you are interested in a custom cross-stitch…these would be perfect for holiday gifts! All I would need is a picture of the subjects and an idea of their clothing style. Now I'm already thinking about who I can cross-stitch next...

 

a week in the life: saturday + sunday

Wow. This weekend was absolutely awesome. (as is finishing up A Week in the Life!)

We had an event on Saturday where we set up camp and demonstrated skills that we had been learning about the past couple of years to educate people about 'lost' skills and/or encourage them to become and part of the group if they are interested in learning these skills. We have learning so many important skills that are definitely not taught to the average person and are Native American-inspired, such as starting fires with bow drills, hide tanning, burning bowls & spoons, camouflaging, trapping, building shelter, filtering water with no equipment, etc. It's been fascinating, overwhelming, and eye-opening. I've been a part of the group for about 2 years and there is still so much to learn and so much that I need to practice. But, I have the confidence that I would need to tap into if I were ever caught in a situation where I needed to not depend on anything other than what I could find in the woods. A lot of people stopped by to check out what the heck was hanging in the teepee structure, make a bowl from clay, or just talk to a group member about who we were and what we were doing. My brother also had a table nearby representing the farm with Beledene and her bull calf, who lounged around all day in the shade chewing their cud. Oh, the life.

We camped down at the creek that night to celebrate the end of our second class series. I think I got about 10-15 minutes of sleep a few times and had Fern down in the bottom of my sleeping bag with the hiccups. Needless to say, some couch time and then my bed felt so good last night.
The canine beauty is a neighbor's wolf who is probably the softest animal I've ever touched in my life. I think all of the singing to he gets definitely helps. Isn't he awesome?

What I am learning about my days: I am still processing this whole project, which really, this is just the half of it. I am so proud of my self for completing it which has certainly sparked a little confidence in the creative department. My phone died on Saturday which was a huge bummer with our camping adventure and I was using my brother's camera during the last class on Sunday so I don't have those pictures yet on my computer. And I was okay with all of that. I was capturing what I could capture with what I had at the time. I think the main things that I learned through this project were to use my time wisely and constructively, and to relaxing about photo documentation helps to ease the pressure in turn allowing me to get through the week. I am happy for the break of not lugging my camera around, and excited about getting this all organized into an album. I'm sure more that I learned will come to me then and I'll be sure to keep you posted!!

Ali Edwards has a great list of folks at the end of each day's post who also took part in A Week in the Life this past week…check 'em out!