in my (sometimes) humble opinion

Just wanted to share some fun links: Lorena Siminovich's beautiful collages on wood, Dana Robson's lovely nature pieces, Mike's new Best of Etsy blog (hey look, I'm on there! :) Also, I created a set of the photos from Esther's baby shower.

Life is finally getting back to normal around here, which means it's time to clean (yikes!) and restock the fridge. By the way, I've discovered another benefit of Etsy: trades! No money involved, just finding something you like and seeing if the artist would like something of yours. I love it! (what, I'm supposed to be making money not accumulating more stuff I don't need? pish posh, you can never have too much art)

So I've been pretty busy (preparing and participating in a craft fair, making presents, hanging out with family - we're all together for the first time since… last November!, having houseguests, playing with my new etsy shop, enjoying Ollie and Giz being healthy again, smooching my two favorite girls, throwing a surprise baby shower, reading my new favorite blog, playing with photoshop) where does the time go? (you'll notice that list does not include sending out holiday cards. Oops, I guess they'll be New Years cards!). But I wanted to wish everyone a beautiful holiday season. Don't forget to take the time to notice the blessings, they're all around you!

Man I hope whoever reads this thing has an RSS feed to it and doesn't check it all the time, cuz I'm probably one of the worst blog posters ever. It's been pretty crazy around here, mainly with the girls being sick. Ollie ended up being at the animal hospital from last Wednesday until yesterday and Giz was there Friday through yesterday, then we had to take her back today. We think we narrowed the problem down to bad food, but for some reason Giz is just not recovering. I have to send some more love to the amazing vets at Oaks Vet Clinic in Des Moines, they've taken care of them through the night and weekends, have given us their private numbers, call us to see how they're doing at home and hardly charge us anything. Definitely thankful for them. Have a beautiful Thanksgiving!

ps - some quick links: my talented friend Tina has a new shop selling her gorgeous jewelry, Papa Stour (a cool shop from Scotland), and the beautiful photography of Lilya Corneli.

Nothing much to say today, just wanted to share some cool links: Kaas Glassworks' amazing handmade trays, Tamar Mogendorff's beautiful animals (my fav, that little tongue just kills me), Su Backwell's gorgeous art (I heart anyone who sees beauty in old books), and a great movie, Stranger Than Fiction. Saw it last night and loved it (plus it has a great soundtrack).

Something's wrong with the girls again, neither are eating and both are very lethargic. The weird thing is Ollie is pretty chubby still, so… no idea what's going on with them. :(

Oh, fyi Kris and I are doing Craft Saturday on Dec. 9th at Vaudeville Mews in Des Moines. Should be fun. Hope you're having a good week!

It's here!!!!! Finally, after months of procrastinating CoriKindred.com is finally alive! With cute little buttons (thanks Matt!) and links that go places, yay! The only thing left is to do something with that empty area on the right. Originally I wanted to have random photos of mine be there, but that might be more tricky than I thought. So who knows… maybe "news"? (crap, better do something newsworthy)

On another creative note, since I got my Etsy shop set up (don't get too excited, it's still empty) I've been buying stuff like crazy (oops, the idea was to sell stuff to make money). Most recently from here and here. At least I have "they're Christmas presents!" as an excuse (even if they are presents for myself, hehe).

Have a great weekend!

Whew! Another sucessful Grey Market. Liza did great, this one was even better organized and more professional than the last one. We had a great time hanging out with the other vendors, and since it was just Kris and I sharing a booth this time it seemed a lot less stressful. There are pics here (including Nika modeling in the fashion show - frighteningly she's a natural!).

In other news, I got my Etsy shop up! Well, there isn't anything for sale yet, but soon, I promise! (can you tell I'm procrastinating getting my stuff done for Notting Hill?)

ps - so excited, just got this gorgeous print (speaking of Etsy shops) in the mail from the talented Michelle Caplan

Just wanted to say a quick hello in the midst of getting ready for The Grey Market 2 tomorrow (!). Boulder was beautiful (although we decided we wouldn't want to live there - Pacific Northwest here we come!). If you're around Des Moines this weekend, make sure to stop by TGM and say hi and check out what Kris and I have been working our little fingers to the bone making. Otherwise have a great weekend, I'll be back Monday with tons of pics!

ps - got to see The Science of Sleep in Boulder on the last night it was there. Loved it, loved it, loved it. Listening to the amazing soundtrack right now.

pps - update on Giz, she was actually back at the hospital from last Tuesday to this Monday (she was totally refusing to eat, spitting it out when we force-fed her) but they treated her for an ulcer which seemed to help, and started eating on her own (for the first time in weeks) on Monday - yay!