moving news!

Hey everyone!

I have moved over to a self-hosted site, so please update your readers to the new and improved Petaline blog. I am updating and posting more frequently and would love to have you join me in this new space.

See you over there!

a petaline feature.

My little student got caught up in a visit with his grandparents this morning, so while I'm smelling my cookies that are baking, I thought I would use this extra time to pop in and share a blog post written by a new, dear friend of mine, Chelsea. She is starting a new series on her blog called Maker Monday, making its debut with Petaline as Maker 001. It's a bit humbling to be written about & photographed in such a sweet way, but the funny thing is that I would probably say the same thing about Chelsea if the tables were turned....

I am so excited to follow along with this series (you should too!) and see the other makers she spotlights, and hopefully make some new connections if they are local. It is always so nice to meet other like-minded folks!

So, yeah, check out the first installment of Maker Monday here.

lately...

Lately I’ve been enjoying the major snowfall we’ve gotten in the past week (with more tonight possibly), and loving how it causes a general "slow down" to local society. Snow always takes me back to being a kid too…waking up bright-eyed and bushy-tailed to peek out of my window and immediately running to the tv to see if my school ran across the screen. Then I’d stay in my pjs all day…even throwing snow pants over them…and get the most out of my free day as I could. To this day, I find myself still checking out the window first thing in the morning, and love that sense of excitement I still feel when I see all of the white. So magical.

Lately I’m working on being more intentional with my purchases. We all know that I’ve mentioned a household overhaul, so I really shouldn’t be bringing anything into my home, but if I do it’s because it’s utilitarian or something I know I will cherish as the years pass. Like this sweet-as-heck honey jar. I went down to Pastiche at Main (where I sell some of my goods) to drop some stuff off, and it was like all of the stars had aligned the 10 minutes I was in there. I work out of a half gallon jar of honey, where there is about 2 inches of honey left at the very bottom…nightmare when I just need a little spoonful for my tea. Could this vintage trinket be anymore perfect?!

Lately I’ve been working on lots and lots of foldover clutches and random-sized pouches to use up my first round of fabric from the Fall. I’m heading to the fabric store next week to choose and stock up on material for the second collection of foldovers for Spring. This stack will be heading down to Pastiche at the end of this week, and a few will be available at the farm store. I want to keep one, but I can’t decide which one! It’s definitely between the black/white or blue with crosses. Although, I am thinking about continuing on the black/white pattern for Spring…I don’t think I did many in that print for the first collection and it’s such a nice pattern & weight. So maybe I’ll grab that last blue one…arghh…I just can’t decide!

Lately I’ve been thoroughly enjoying my new couch! It took me a trip to Charlottesville and a couple of trips to Roanoke to find the one, but I knew it the second I sat on it…my hardheaded self just didn’t want to believe it at first. I sat on this couch at the store in Roanoke while I was looking at fabric options for another couch I thought I wanted, but couldn’t stop petting this one saying how much I loved it. I thought it was too big for my space, so I didn’t even think it was an option. Then we went back to the store a second time to look at fabric again and I was drawn to this one, again, like a magnet. So, I listened to my gut and had her delivered a couple days later! She’s perfect in my living room, so comfortable, and just feels right. Love it when that happens.

Lately I’ve been totally obsessed with Julia Rothman’s new book Nature Anatomy. I look through it over and over, the cover is great, the size of the book is great, and it’s full of so much important and useful information carried out in such a perfectly illustrated way. We use it in homeschool as a reference book - we just did a Weather block and used one of the clouds/environment illustrations to copy. I went ahead and ordered Farm Anatomy (that had been sitting in my Wish List cart for ages), and look forward to using that one during our Farming & Gardening block this Spring. My little student loves them too, which makes our lessons all the more exciting! Thumbs up!!

So that’s the first installment of what’s being going on lately at mi casa…I’d say 2015 is off to a good start….

a good place to start is...now.

       

                                       

2015. 

Like most folks I've seen in the virtual world, I start the new year off feeling ready to set intentions and take on goals. I don't really start it off feeling refreshed and ready to take on the world like some, I just realize that it is a new year and a can be taken as a fresh palette to put whatever I want on it. All the years matter, so I try not to think of it as a redo. It's just another go to make whatever year it is different than the last...if that is desired.

START.

That is my word for this year, following be in 2013, and make for 2014. It sits in my head all day long coaxing me to get on it...whatever that "it" may be. Being that we are a month in already, I feel like I picked a good one.

I picked start for many reasons, some personal, some business, and some in between. I feel that it is a pretty versatile word and that's part of the reason I think it spoke to me. I have realized that I currently wear quite a handful of hats, so start can fit right on in. I am working on staying true to goals that I have set (more on that later), finishing projects that have piled up (more on that later), and starting new ones that have been on my mind (you guessed it...more on that later). And that little word...start...is the trigger that gets me going.

I am documenting the process of my "One Little Word" using Ali Edwards' class she teaches every year. I kind of fell through with documenting my word and process last year, so I am just using those prompts over again and probably do the formal class again next year. It is SUCH a great class and community of people to keep you inspired, so definitely look into it if it something of interest. I plan to check in throughout the year with my current progress and how my word is fitting in to my life. Please let me know if you are currently in this class or have taken it in the past...I'd love to hear about it!

**So, yeah, here I am...after about 8 months. And I thought I would just jump right on it. No excuses and no explanations...it just happened. And I'm hope to keep it up a little better, so continue joining me if you'd like! I'm thinking about a whole new design, direction, and maybe even switching platforms, but I think I am going to see if I can be a little more consistent before I switch things over. It's all part of that word...start....

//photo of my old-as-methuzel donkey plant courtesy of Chelsea Laine Francis//