breathe. let go.

yes.  breathe.  let go.  one step at a time.
thank you, claire.

searching...

...for the perfect word to stitch

...for that extra little something to make them special

...for the motivation to finish

...for the inspiration to begin

...for time...

my simple secret for a happy marriage...

as you know, my hubby and i recently celebrated our 21st wedding anniversary.  i feel pretty lucky to have found such a true friend.  sure, we have our ups and downs, but our love is still going strong.  we support each others dreams.  we still talk and laugh.  and we really like each other.  recently we realized something that has helped our marriage.  you probably think i'm going to tell you he buys me flowers every week or serves me up a candlelit dinner every night.  while those things would be nice, it's really much simpler than that.  our secret is...that we only have one car.  it doesn't sound like the kind of thing that would improve a marriage, but somehow, for us, it does.  you probably know that i have four kids and of course, they are all involved in various activities.  hubby has a demanding job and i have a work at home job.  and only one car for all of that driving around.  this involves some serious planning.  every week, we sit down together and talk about what we have going on and plan out our schedule.  some days, i don't take the car at all (those really are my favorite days, because it means i get to play work in my studio all day).  other days, i need the car to pick up kids or run errands.  and then there are days when we both need the car.  so, once the kids are off to school, i will drive hubby to work, do whatever i need to do and pick him up when he's done with work or sometimes we have to make a midday switch.  which means, we get a lot of time together.  it's mostly in the car, but often it is just hubby and me, as the kids almost always opt to stay home.  it's kind of like a date.  a really cheap date.  for the price of gasoline, we get hours of alone time every week.  precious moments where we can talk about anything and everything.  and though sometimes having one car is a bit of a challenge, for the most part, it's good.  and good for us.  and i wouldn't have it any other way.

love...

our 21st anniversary.  a day late, cause my computer was on the blink.  i'm no good at computers and hubby was away and i had to wait for him to come home and fix it.  so, after two days of business meetings, driving in D.C. traffic, home in time for our son's baseball game, i fed him a quick dinner and put him to work some more...  yeah, i love that guy.

a little leathery pouch...

i finally finished this little leather pouch.  i had a vision of how i wanted it to look and it took a few tries to get it right.  i have a little pile of chopped up leather and a few failed attempts on my table.  when something like this is giving me a hard time, i generally step away from it for a day or two.  or three.  usually when i do this, a solution will come to me while i am doing something else.  i love how it turned out.  this one is for sale in my little shop, but i am going to make one for myself.  and i will tuck little love notes or snippets of my favorite poetry into it.  maybe a tiny treasure too.

full of...

my little fat leather journal is almost full...just one signature left.  i think this is the first time i have ever filled one up.  i have a lot of half full journals on my shelf.  but there is just something about this one.  the thick, rugged pages and the earthy smell of leather every time i open it, the way it's starting to bulge with all of its' goodness.  every page is filled with oozing, drippy, drappy paint, scribbly, scrabbly sketchings, torn and glued scraps of old papers, special bits of string and thread and fabric.  and words.  beautiful, wonderful heartfelt words...

teeny, tiny...

i love teeny, tiny things.  don't you?  i have all these little scraps of leather that i can't bear to throw away.  leftovers from journals.  so i'm dreaming up teeny, tiny things to make with them.  today, i made these teeny, tiny book earrings.  so cute.  i'm working on a teeny, tiny pouch necklace as well.  that design is taking a bit longer, but hopefully i'll have something to show you soon.  i'm squeezing all of this teeny, tiny creating into the teeny, tiny moments i make between baseball practice and a knocked out tooth and visits to the dentist and a specialist and an orthodontist.  and track practice and shopping for new running shoes.  and music practice and concerts and shopping for black concert clothes.  oh my.  spring is always so busy at our house.  i'm really looking forward to summer...