It's a cat drumming a drum that says "Rad" by Deth P. Sun

It's a cat drumming a drum that says "Rad" by Deth P. Sun

Yesterday Mikah kept asking us “What’s that awful sound?” And then Ben & I would giggle. It’s our inside joke.

Mikah enjoys helping Ben make Kitty Egg Crayons, and one part of the process is using a metal palette knife to scrape off the spilled crayon waxes from the work table. Mikah is a pro at this, though scraping a metal palette knife against dry wood at high speeds can make sounds similar to nails scratching a plate.

Ben, not wanting to just rip the palette knife away from Mikah’s hands, will scrunch up his face and say, “What’s that awful sound?”

My funny boys.

There aren’t a lot of sounds that personally bother me, though I managed to make a list:

  • cotton balls rubbing together
  • high frequency whirring sounds of appliances (like bathroom fans or old tv’s)
  • fork scratching on a plate
  • AC/DC
Crochet Dragon by Olga Farberova

Crochet Dragon by Olga Farberova

I didn’t actually figure out this resolution til 10 minutes ago- but here it is. I’m going to do 1 post a day on the blog.

I’ve been looking for more writers to collaborate on our blog to share great resources for you guys- but it’s always better to lead by example. So please look forward to seeing great posts on tutorials, recipes, and shopping guides. I’ll be including my daily ‘love notes’ in between.

For now, Happy New Years! 2012 is the year of the Water Dragon. Dragons are passionate and hard-working, but can fizzle out quickly. However 2012 is the year of the Water Dragon, as such……

Water Dragons – Years 1952 and 2012

Water calms the Dragon’s fire. Water Dragons are able to see things from other points of view. They don’t have the need to always be right. Their decisions, if well-researched, are usually better since they allow other’s to become involved. (source)

 

In our house, Ben is our dragon, born in the year of 1976, making him a FIRE dragon- which means he is extra firey and passionate…. a definite ‘doer’ of things. If you don’t have your own dragon in your family, consider getting one from Olga Farberova, who I found just searching on etsy for a dragon. I love that it’s a papa dragon with his baby- how adorable!

 

This is how we feel. From the amazingly awesome family movie, My Neighbor Totoro

Thank you to everyone who helped make this project a success and for all of your positive comments and words of encouragement. We really would not be doing this if it weren’t for your support.

Since the project ended we’ve been busy getting all our scores settled. Of course monkey wrenches pop in when you least expect it- though I feel like that’s the spice of life.

Keep reading…

Keep reading…

Join our blitz giveaway for our new Soy & Beeswax Kitty Egg Crayon + a coloring book! Valued at $38. Ends 12/4

Keep reading…

BANG recycled felt applique pillow 14x18

Getting things started again

It’s been a while… about 9 months actually.
Life presented some life changing directions to take and I took them!
One of the biggest changes was that I took a full-time job with full health benefits for the entire family. On top of that I got paid on a regular basis, for work that I had been doing anyway and also had a lot of interest in. Awesome, right? It was! For a while.

But soon I started noticing things like…
spending all my energy at work. Being constantly ‘tired’ when I came home. Having a short fuse when it came to relationships with people I loved. Feeling a constant need to just zone out. Feel the need to decompress and have a drink every night (I resisted). Feeling like I missed the whole day with my son.
In a nutshell, I felt depressed.

After some reflection it became painfully obvious that I was not doing something that reinforced the person I wanted to grow into. Sure this was ok for now, but as far as who and where I want to be in 10 or even 5 years? No.
While I was highly encouraged to accept, mostly by family, that these pangs of unhappiness was normal and what 90% of society experiences for financial stability (because financial stability outweighs happiness), it just wasn’t a good enough reason to stay.

On the flip side, it was hugely important for me to experience what a “real world” job felt like. It was extremely affirming to go from college grad to mother to manager of a department, and to have other more experienced workers affirm my competence. Up until that point I felt like I had always just been winging it, though now I feel like maybe I really do know what i’m doing.

So now comes change.

Keep reading…

If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.  If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

1 Corinthians 13

And with that, I leave you some simple tutorials to give to friends, family, yourself, or a stranger.


Origami Heart Tutorial by Kitty Baby Love (from the archives)


Valentine Lightbulb Tutorial by Design Sponge


Fabric Heart Garland by How About Orange

Found a mushroom
They are so cute!!! This one is only centimeters big. It was attached to a little twig and some moss- how adorable would this be in a terrarium? I’ve been wanting to start or buy a terrarium for a while now and this inspires me so….

Found on etsy!


a. WarmCountryMeadows . etsy has some great terrarium sellers and this is one of them. Love the DIY kit she has too!
b. babyjives . how cute is this?! Love how dimensional the clouds are… check out her shop to see her awesome bird mobiles too
c. KLTworks . i’ve already mentioned these cutie slugs before, but here they are again. I don’t think i’ll ever get tired of how cute they are ^^
d. fogandswell . I absolutely love how detailed this is for a simple creature- and generally I just love the theme of the creatures in her shop. check it out and you’ll see what I mean- looking forward to seeing more items from fogandswell!

More crafted pinecones, slugs, mushrooms and moss here!

Hope everyone had a fun Halloween. We had a quiet one here.. went to the Suavie Island Pumpkin patch for a little while before coming home, taking a nap, visiting a couple houses for trick-or-treating (Mikah’s first time!) and coming home to watch the Nightmare Before Christmas while handing back out the candy we received. We only trick-or-treated at 5 houses, but it was lots of fun- Mikah can’t talk really but he got the syllables right.. 3 short da-da-da. So cute!

17 month anniversary
17 months as a family!

Suavie Island Pumpkin Patch

Suavie Island Pumpkin Patch

Suavie Island Pumpkin Patch

more on our flickR account, kittybabylove

Wow its been a while. Life has been crazy- in the past month we’ve bought our first home (!), Mikah had his top 4 teeth removed due to horrible horrible decay, and I started a part-time job. It’s been a lot of transition and getting used to our new schedule while trying to keep some sort of rhythm to it. I’ll write a post for each incident by itself. For now, here is a picture post of a recent car trip down SE Belmont & 11th. We drive by here just about every day, when suddenly we noticed that there were goats in the once empty and overgrown lot… yes, goats!!

Goats in the City

Goats in the City

Goats in the City

Goats in the City

Another reason to love living in Portland!