here + there

Things are busy around here this week! I am getting ready for my third 'real' craft market and have lots of new items to get organized and packaged. It is so fun. This particular one is pretty much across the street from where I live at the Sedalia Center where I will be amongst 70ish other local artisans showing & selling goods as part of the Bedford County's Artisan Trail. This was one market I was definitely not going to miss out on. I can go over tonight and set up the big stuff like a tent, table, chairs, etc. and then grab just my storage bins to take over in the morning. One of my good pals is going as my wingman, so it should be a laid-back and fun process. No stress here. Hence the coffee.

Well…except for making sure my items are properly labeled & priced, my handmade sign isn't wrinkled, the display is eye-catching, I have string & tape, and I have a hanky ready in case of an allergy attack in the midst of a customer interaction. Yep.

I've got all sorts of new stamp designs that I am super excited about and the personalized muslin storage bag is just making me plain giddy. These are pretty versatile stamps which was my goal, as I am a pretty versatile paper crafter. Whether its for stationery, scrapbooking/Project Life, or random stamped images in a daily planner (love it)…they will all work. I will also have little 'supply kits' available with kraft circle labels, washi tape, and a small black ink pad, so folks can get right to work on utilizing their new purchase. There's already been some Instagram buzz about the Virginia one (which happens to be my personal favorite…maybe I'm a little biased), so I hope tomorrow goes well with local costumer interest as well. I'm pretty optimistic.

Also added to the mix are a few postcard options for sending off a quick and cheerful note to birthday gals and boys, or to just tell someone you love to 'have a great day.' Postcards are so great for making someone smile, and with a less expensive postage price they just can't be beat. These were pretty popular at the last craft market, so I'm looking forward to sharing these new (and comical) designs.

I hope to get all of these items listed in my shop in the next couple of weeks. There's a huge adventure brewing around here that you'll be hearing about so stay tuned!

Also, if you are interested in any of the items you see in this post, please shoot me an email and we can talk about getting one to ya! And if you're in the area, come on out tomorrow from 10-5 and say hi!

this extra plywood came in handy.

This weekend is the 3rd Annual Mountain Run Jam, a music, food, and beer-filled weekend my niece started having on the farm for her and her college friends. This year, she asked me if I would design a schedule for her to pass out to her friends upon their arrival, and of course I obliged. A chance to informally (but formally) play with font and graphics on my computer and then print on a nice colored cardstock? Yes, please.

Well, being the procrastinator that I am and knowing I had a beach trip thrown into the mix right before the weekend, I remembered I had a nice new can of chalkboard paint from a decorating project I decided against before starting, and I knew there had to be some extra wood slabs lying around somewhere. I loved the idea of paper schedules but I just knew it was going to be an added stress...with the typical issues like running out of ink and having to drive over an hour for more ink, and schedule changes that I had a good feeling were in our future. 

So I got the plywood, grabbed my paint and added layer after layer of blue paint that dried black. Which doesn't make sense to me at all, but whatever.

It almost took the whole darn can of paint, but I have heard that the more layers of paint, the easier it is to erase. Then after it dried, we loaded it into the car and drove it down to the creek with a box of chalk and I got busy.

I think it turned out pretty nice...even if I did end of having to change the whole Saturday afternoon schedule. Such is the life of a schedule maker.

 

 

 

 

A (semi) day in the life.

I've always loved the idea of documenting a day in my life, but I didn't have a whole lot of faith in keeping up with it throughout the day from losing track of time or getting sidetracked and the whole thing going out the window. I decided last Wednesday that I was going to attempt it and see how it went...I thought I did pretty okay for a first timer. Woop woop!!

After I wake up, the first thing I do is check my Happy Street progress (sad, but true), Instagram, and emails.

Being that it was Wednesday, I threw on some shoes and drove the mile and a half to my brother's house to pick up the kiddies for the day. It's one of my most-looked-forward-to-days where we just hang out together and play, play, play.

While I was there, I picked up my monthly bulk food order from Frankferd Farms that's gets delivered once a month. If you prefer natural and/or organic foods, this is a great company to check out. Prices are super fair for bulk and individual items and they do carry brand name items, all delivered to your door or somewhere nearby. We've been using them for about 4+ years now and I would recommend them being a great alternative for grocery store shopping. And you certainly can't beat a 5# block of grassfed mozzarella. So good.

Love a nice green, locally grown fridge.

And while I was putting away all of my Frankferd order and CSA goodies, this was happening upstairs.

We always reconvene after lunch to read and wind down for nap/rest. This week we cracked open Freckle Juice, and it was quite a hit.

Never a dull moment I tell you.

Like auntie, like niece. She lays them all out, then dresses and re-dresses and dresses and re-dresses all of them. Except the one with no head...she gets skipped over. Understandable.

Don't worry, it wasn't running. My nephew LOVES to push mow. Awesome for me, right?

Front porches are perfect for messy snack times. The ants really enjoy it too.

And we're off...back to my brothers to take the kiddies home. Somehow we picked up another passenger, so she naturally assumed a co-pilot position.

Yikes! A wonderful dark sky to watch as I silently sit and enjoy a cold beer.

*All photos taken with cell phone, and a majority edited using Valencia filter in Instagram (not sure why a couple are different sizes).

here + there: farm edition

Before yesterday, I feel like I haven't left the farm in weeks. And I definitely don't blame myself - I love it here. It is such a part of my life - I mean, I live here - but even with the day to day stuff. Each day brings something new, and there never really is a dull moment. Even if I feel like not much is going on, I know there is SO much happening that I just can't see from where I am. A few days ago, I was just piddling in my house doing my thing and I heard my brother yelling to me from the field across the street to grab my camera and go out back. So, I did and was struck by the view of crazy sheets of fog literally rolling in waves across the field...it was so eery, but yet amazing. The weather has been so dynamic these past few weeks - crazy wind gusts, strange cloud formations, dark skies, rain for days, heat waves, and cold fronts. I realize it's Spring, which is somewhat of a transitional season between temperatures, but I don't remember it being so full of character in years past. It sure has provided lots of "wows" from me, that's for sure. This past heat wave kicked my brother in the butt to get the sheep shorn, which they only have three + a lamb, so I was called to go and help with that. It was his first time shearing, and it was amazing how much wool came off one sheep and how soft and thick it was. I definitely want to be involved with the next steps of getting it washed, carded, and then possibly even spun into wool we can use.

My one-on-one homeschooling is still going on, and I absolutely love it. We are pulling from a couple of curriculums related to Waldorf, while throwing in some aspects of my past teaching experience. These past couple of weeks I've been adding in some handwork, which included making looms from sticks we walked around and found and some yarn I had on hand. It's so nice to take the time to really get hands-on with a project and also watch my nephew's wheels turn as he is figuring what works best for him. It's definitely a learning experience for me as well, and I really do feel fortunate to be able to actually use what I love about teaching and remember why I chose it as my career focus in college. I hope to continue this for as long as I can (and as long as my heart is in it) and maybe even slowly adding in a couple more kids to get a well-rounded little classroom going…maybe even growing into a small school. The possibilities are wide open.

advice.

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Feel free to join in blogging everyday in May here. Today's topic: A piece of advice you have for others. Anything at all.

what i do.

It's funny, because I was just asked this question yesterday by a neighbor that I had not seen in a while and I immediately shifted my eyes to the right and replied, "Uhmmmm...." She knows what my 'day job' is, so she was wanting to really what I had been doing with my time...where had I been...was there anything new? And I guess I don't like answering because I don't really know what I do 100% of the time and it's difficult for me to sum it up in a casual conversation answer. So, if I could just carry around a piece of paper to read a list off, it would make those awkward moments not quite so awkward. 

"So, Hannah, what do you do (besides the 3-tiered day job)?"

"Well... let's see...":

I play with paper.

I take pictures.

I write.

I document my life with said paper, pictures, and words.

I am currently designing new stamps.

I help friends and family with creative projects.

I organize...constantly.

I make and tear down piles.

I do what I love.

And last, but certainly not least, I do dishes. 

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Feel free to join in blogging everyday in May here. Today's topic: If you couldn't answer with your job, how would you answer the questions, 'what do you do'?

creative life.

I have soooooooo many quotes that are "my favorite," but this one is definitely one that I am connecting with lately. I have a "quotes" board on my Pinterest, and this is and has been one that really needs to be repeated by me on a daily basis.

I am a creative and sometimes that comes along with a little creative insecurity because I know, at some point, someone will be seeing my products - whether it be scrapbook pages, drawings, or items for sale.  So there comes this feeling of questioning what I'm doing and why I'm doing it and who I'm doing it for...and whether I should be doing it at all with a fear of being wrong somewhere in my creative thinking process. It seems so ridiculous as I'm writing it...but it is sometimes my truth. And I have to tell myself that there is no possible way that being creative should be feared in any way, shape, or form...especially if it feels so right to be doing it. I have so many projects going on at this time, and there is absolutely no room for creative insecurity to rear it's ugly head. So I love this quote because it reminds me to close my blinds to that fear and fulfill of my creative visions...for my self and no one else.

Feel free to join in blogging everyday in May here. Today's Yesterday's topic: Favorite quote and why you love it.

discomfort.

I've never been one for pictures…therefore I've never been one for self-portraits. It's a collection of insecurity, feeling stupid during the process, and disinterest in the product. I know, terrible, right1? But I'm working on it, I really am. I look at the above picture (which was taken a couple of months ago) and I see a self-taken photo of myself that I do genuinely like. So I choose it. And as it's sitting here a little large on my screen I start to question if this is a good picture (like I've done every time I pull this picture to use). Does the light hitting my left eye make it look weird? Is this a smile or a smirk? Is my uncomfortableness just screaming through the lens? Where are my eyebrows? SHUT UP YOU! You're hair looks awesome, that scarf is the bomb, and I see some fun secrets in those baby blues.

But because of the self-depricating, negative, nit-picky observations that are much easier to believe (like Julia Roberts tells Richard Gere in Pretty Woman), I've strayed away from putting pictures of myself anywhere on social media (unless I'm with someone else within the frame), and when I look back on feeds or albums I notice there is always one thing missing. Me. And I don't want to be missing from my own life.

So, hi, nice to meet you.

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Feel free to join in blogging everyday in May here. Today's topic: Something(s) that make you uncomfortable.

la vie.

I was born, hiccuping, into a family of three sons. My parents met when they were in high school, had 2 boys back to back, took about a 13 year break, then had my brother and I three years apart...and just celebrated their 53rd anniversary I might add. I was always "the baby," or "the youngest of three brothers," or the "then you came along…bet your mama was happy!" We lived in a modest home in a beautiful area of Lynchburg, Virginia, down the street from my grandma and about 10 minutes from my other grandparents. I grew up wearing pigtails and thick Annie glasses with a constant stream of patches over my right eye in order to maintain muscle strength, (resulting in my mother wrapping Southern Living magazines around my elbows so I wouldn't consistently rip them off). I went to public, then private, back to public school after we moved out into what we thought was "the country," then back to private school where I would remain (enter another move to the real country) until I graduated in 1995. I went to Guilford College in North Carolina where I stayed as a five-year-student and studied abroad twice - one time in Paris and the second in Ghana. After graduating, I stayed in NC for a couple of years stretching my wings before moving back home to the farm. All of my jobs have centered around working with children, and after taking a break to put some farm time in and assist a local midwife, I'm back to teaching in a homeschool setting. I enjoy paper everything, great tunes, sitting on porches and good-ass food & drink. I've wanted children for as long as I can remember (and focused on making this happen). I live on the farm, enjoying a pretty laid-back-with-intent lifestyle. I rescued a dog named Fern. I inhale the beautiful fresh air of the Blue Ridge Mountains all day long.

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Feel free to join in blogging everyday in May here. Today's topic: The story of your life in 250 words or less…(or close enough).