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.
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.
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….
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!
Are you in the SF Bay Area? SEESAW has its grand opening tomorrow!
They are a play studio, lounge, and workshop to inspire children curiosity, creativity and connection. It’s run by husband and wife duo, Sabrina (child psychologist) and Niels (software engineer). Additionally they will be carrying our Kitty Egg crayons, so please check them out and tell us about it.
(SEESAW on facebook)
I’ve been referenced as being Wednesday Adams, Marla Singer, and Tim Burton something… so I’m pretty darn pleased to be apart of the Crafting In Color Etsy Team! I have never claimed black to be my favorite color, ever. But I do admit my wardrobe was 95% black from the ages of 14-23. So this is a pretty big deal for me- I am officially embracing my inner rainbow.
To commemorate, I made this treasury on etsy. As always, comments appreciated!
[CIC Team] treasury:
top row: beckykazana, therainbowroom, HamjArt, KIMONOS
2nd row: PoorRobin, sunshinegrovefarm, kittybblove, ahouston
3rd row: sugarandcream, alatceramics, MistyAurora, swiedebie
4th row: tekaandzoe, happycloud, bprdesigns, thefuzzymonkey
Since we mix our own colors, we sometimes get swirly kitties in between batches of colors… like moving from a batch of orange crayons to red. They’re fairly popular when we sell them on weekends at Portland Saturday Market so I haven’t had time to list and sell any on etsy.
Behind them are some peace sign crayons too… another item yet to be listed on our shop…
What do you think of the swirlies and peace sign crayons? Any color combos or particular things you’d like to see?
This was designed with older kids in mind. The pointy tip of the drop function like a pencil tips for detailed coloring and drawing. We’re still working out the kinks and it probably won’t be available for at least a couple more weeks. The one above is one of our prototypes. He still needs a face and maybe a *little* shorter and thicker tip to prevent breakage from heavy duty crayon users. I also still have to figure out how to package these guys so that their tips stay protected during transportation. Hmmm
What do you guys think? Let me know in the comments.
Actually we missed all of last month at Portland Saturday Market. Ben got a job (yes, a “real” job). So we were still adjusting to our new routine. Today was our first day back at market. It was wonderfully warm and sunny. We all wore sunscreen but still got a little burned. Mikah got a few hugs back from babies around his age (Mikah likes to give a lot of hugs)- and generally just stole the show with how amazing he is.
Dont mind the wrinkles…
The bright colored square garland is a new addition to our booth. I wanted to add some color since everything is pretty monochromatic. I like the way they look but I think I’ll upgrade the look by having the colors more closely match our bottom “Kitty Baby Love” logo colors. Also putting it on fabric with frayed edges (for a homemade/rustic look).
Mikah says *I know you!! You’re my mommy…. mommy = milk (he’s using baby sign language)*
Mikah’s Words
baby sign language –> milk, more, finish/no more, amen (we’re nonsecular but we do like to eat dinner together and give our thanks to the universe for being able to do so), twist (he likes to twist on/off bottle caps), brushing teeth (he made this one up.. sticks his finger in his mouth and swooshes it around while going aaaaaaa)
verbal words –> dada (word of choice), egg, guitar (gui gui gui), banana (nana), light (ite ite), vehicle (brrrrr), mama
words he recognizes but can’t communicate –> shoe, eye, nose, mouth, ears, head, hat
I’m sure theres more, but that’s all that we know of. ^_^
What Kitties Feel has been made into a coloring AND activity book! We now have it available for print or as a download on our etsy shop as well as kittybabylove.com
So now we have 3 options:
a:: Coloring book download
b:: Coloring & Activity book download
c:: Coloring & Activity printed book
I was thinking of doing a free activity page on a monthly basis for our newsletter subscribers. I think I need to do a year’s worth (12) at one time so it is all ready to go without me having to worry about it. When that is ready i’ll post about it here.
Till then, enjoy the download or printed book!
I'm a mommy of one and life partner with an amazing artist. We live in Portland, Oregon, originally from SF Bay, San Diego, and Hawaii. This blog is a pseudo book about our tales in our family business, Kitty Baby Love. We'll include some family-oriented craft tutorials and gift guides with independent artists time to time. My intention is to share something positive and honest with you.
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