Hi everyone. I lied. I said over there ----------> in my sidebar that I'd do one more shop update next week. Unfortunately, I think it's just too much. It's time to call it quits for the holidays and concentrate on other things.

For those of you who ordered Baby Dolls, they're almost done. I've been stitching on heads and faces today, and tomorrow I'll be sewing the wee dresses. I will ship the out-of-town dolls first thing Monday morning and then I hope to have all the in-town dolls ready to deliver later in the week.

I think I'll take a break from the doll factory this afternoon and work on this new Advent Calendar a la Martha. A few baby socks, a little rick-rack, some line and pegs and poof! New tradition. The activity tucked in each sock will be nature, family, and giving oriented. There are tons of great ideas floating around out there. I'm striving to keep the season calm and meaningful. Our first activity tomorrow will be picking out our tree. Yippee!

Have a great weekend! xo.

p.s. Have you heard the great news?

Posted by Alicia at 11:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (9)

except for the sewing machine.

Posted by Alicia at 01:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (16)

Hi all! We're back from St. Louis.

The trip was good. We enjoyed our family. We contemplated life and death. {Brian's sweet little Grandma has been in the hospital and is entering hospice care. It's sad, but she's lived a long (94!), good life and she seems at peace about it all.} We enjoyed the funny things the kids did. We went to the zoo. We watched football. We played Ponopoly. We bowled. We ate turkey and pumpkin pie.

We felt grateful.

It may be quiet around here for several days. It's Baby Doll-apalooza this week for me!

Posted by Alicia at 10:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (11)

I hope you all have a great week. We're off for a little Thanksgiving vacation.

May your turkey be moist, your mashed potatoes lumpy, and your belts loose. (seems like I said something very similar last year...)

See you next week! Take good care.

Posted by Alicia at 04:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (10)

Happy Friday! I looked out the studio window this morning and saw this heart looking back. I had to run out in my flannels to take a photo.

This isn't my only reason to feel happy this morning. Shari has included me in her holiday gift guide interviews and it's up today. Honestly, I'm a little nervous. But thrilled and flattered! I hope you have a moment to go take a look and of course read all the other incredible interviews. I am completely honored to be in the company of these artists.

Thank you Shari! Thank you.

(I'm also planning on a small shop update this afternoon. See the shop link in the sidebar? I'm going to start listing the next update over there so I don't have to blather on about it each time.)

Have a wonderful weekend, my friends! Looks like we've got just a smidge of leaf raking and mulching ahead of us...

Posted by Alicia at 08:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (15)

I'm messing around this morning trying to take another self portrait. The weather is weird. It's cool and windy. One minute the sun is shining like crazy, the next it looks like it's thinking about storming.

Thank you all SO much for all the wonderful birthday wishes! Alas, there was no cake. But there were very yummy birthday cinnamon rolls and fresh squeezed orange juice for breakfast. And for dinner there was a little bit of fun out at a restaurant. Brian is in trouble.

Posted by Alicia at 10:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (11)

Doesn't thirty-five sound so much older than thirty- four?

I'm not complaining. My life couldn't be much more blessed than it is right now. I am exactly where I want to be.

Posted by Alicia at 01:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (49)

Here we are on update day yet again, with less than I anticipated. An unexpected Royally Crappy Day® fell upon us yesterday, and instead of finishing up the last Simple Bird and sewing some wintry Little Girlie Purses assembly line style, we (N and I) spent the morning, the entire morning, in the pediatrician's office. No worries though. She's fine- She really is. Other than the coughing, you wouldn't even know the kid has a bug. Happy as a lark, this one. I'm taking my cues from her. I'm turning it around today: coffee. baking pumpkin bread. tidying up. music. I'll just add the last bird painting and the little bags sometime soon. (I'll let you know.)

But, please go check out the Shop after 11 am anyway. There are Baby Dolls to order, two Simple Birds (Emily gets dibs on the cardinal), and one remaining Artist Tote. I hope you see something you like. Any holiday gift contenders in there? If you have any questions, please email me. Pricing this handmade stuff is such a pickle- especially these dolls. I need them to be worth my time, but not seem too expensive. I know if you've ever sold any art or craft, you know what I'm talking about.

And you know what? My sweet mother-in-law is coming this weekend to wrangle children so Brian and I can finally paint our bedroom. It's been in-process for at least 6 months now. Then I'll finally get to hang my new photographs. I'll be taking a little blog break until Tuesday to scrape, spackle, sand and paint, decorate and hang. Weeeee!

Thank you in advance if purchase something. And have a wonderful weekend!

Hugs to you all.

Posted by Alicia at 08:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (11)

Hello there! I hope you're having a smooth start to the new week. It's beautiful again here today but super windy. I'm hoping the strong breeze will sweep away the elm leaves and save us from the job. It makes me think of Amy's lovely post from this time last year.

I'm moving the shop update by just one day. Tuesday is Brian's birthday, and I want to spend a nice, quiet evening with him. Plus Wednesdays are not good for spending much time at the computer, so THURSDAY, November 8th it is. I'll shoot for 11 am (cst).

I also wanted to explain my plans for the baby dolls that I'll feature this time. Part of the fun of these girls is that they can resemble the child for whom they're intended. Therefore, I'm going to do them on a custom order basis. I'll commit to a limited number (a VERY limited number- they take a lot of time!) and if you're interested, you'll prepay and specify skin tone, hair type and color, and eye color. Then I'll make each to order and ship them by Saturday, December 1st. That way, they'll arrive in plenty of time for the holidays!

There will also be some other items including a few new Simple Birds this time around. See you back here on Thursday?! Remember to BUY HANDMADE for the holidays.

Posted by Alicia at 12:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (18)

Have a GREAT weekend, you guys.

Posted by Alicia at 02:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

one was sweet and toasty in her borrowed (not handmade) butterfly costume.

and one was spooky. He's the Haunted Hornet. Don't call him a bumblebee. He'll sting you. Now this one I did make. (What?! There's no haunted hornet costume in the stores? No way.)

Hope your Halloween was just the right amount of spooky. N swears she saw a monster, but interestingly enough, she's not the one who ended up in bed with us in the middle of the night.

Posted by Alicia at 08:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (17)