Fall Is Here!

What a perfect mug for my tea in the morning! My sister found it for me. She's so awesome!

There are some wonderful fall happenings at in our home these days. My family loves this cooler weather. We have even been able to fire up our wood stove on some of the colder nights. I love the smells and snuggles that come along with fall.

Since the beginning of the season we’ve gotten to try some new fall flavors at our local ice cream shop, Joe’s Ice Cream Supreme.  I’m in love with their apple crisp flavor and I’m looking forward to having pumpkin spice next.

My sister and I got some hot chocolate and white chocolate mocha drinks at Joe's. We fell in love with the mustache stickers that came on the lids. I wanna go back and collect more!

Another tradition we have begun with the kiddos has been going to a pumpkin patch and picking our own pumpkins.  We went to Knollbrooke Farm this year and last. We really enjoy the atmosphere of the place. Plus it is super close.  Our favorite activities are the slingshots for tiny pumpkins, the large tricycle racetrack, and the corn maze.  Their pumpkin patch has great varieties to choose from. For some reason I always end up falling in love with the tall ones. I didn’t realize how large the pumpkin I picked was until I was carrying it to the wagon. The scale couldn’t even weigh it for us!

Our pretty picks from the pumpkin patch. One for each of us!

Fall also means a library books sale! I love to hit up this place and get some older books for a couple cents a piece. Last year old picked up some vintage children’s books. I love to have some easy read books right before bed like the Hardy Boys! I enjoy the different story telling style or some of the books back then. The plots are not too much to think about and easy enough to follow without getting stressed out before bed. Call me silly, but I’m always on the look out for more of them!

I found this small book at the book sale from 1958. It's called "A Friend Is Someone Who Likes You". The illustrations are so crisp and beautiful. 

Rachel and I are learning as we go with this business stuff, but it’s been a blast! She’s on fire with her crochet pieces! I’ll be having a booth up at a Fall Festival in North Webster full of all our stuff with a couple new seasonal items. It’s a very new festival, but it sounds like there is going to be a lot to do with the family. Come say hi if you’re around!

- Hannah

Brainstorming and Visualizing

I found these fun shapes in the corner of the antique shop a few weeks ago. I love a good deal on a fun hands on activity. My oldest son, my husband and I were all playing with them last night creating different designs from our own imaginations. I have a feeling I'll be playing with these often.

The colors on these pieces are worn out with a satin shine to them. I think I'll be coming back to these whenever I've hit a block creatively or just want to make something pretty. Eventually I'd like to make something permanent from these shapes. Jewelry? Ornaments? Wall Art? Any ideas? Who knows what we will come up with. I'll make sure to share whatever we do come up with. 

I've had a blast reading Grow Your Handmade Business by Kari Chapin. Today I did a exercise she has included in her book to visualize what your perfect workday would look like. With her instructions to dig deep into the details of the actual day I couldn't help but get so inspired by my own dreams and goals. I think this visualization is a good practice for anyone to do. Sometimes we need to just sit down and really think about what we are doing with our lives and where we want to be in the future. I'm not saying I'm miserable where I am now, but that it's healthy to have goals to motivate myself and our business to grow. 

My husband and I like to visualize our future (both near and far) often and our ideas are bursting at the seams. It always leads to great brainstorming and I get so inspired for a new project right then. Keep an eye out for new stuff we've been working on in our mumre etsy shop. We will be switching up our inventory over the next couple weeks with more seasonal items!

-Hannah

Reading and Learning

I’ve been doing a lot of reading these days and finally made it to a book I’ve been sort of hesitant to read, but excited at the same time. I’m reading Grow Your Handmade Business by Kari Chapin. I love the way she writes and how easy she is to follow.  For as intimidating as starting a business sounds initially, she does a great job of easing you into it with excitement. I read Handmade Marketplace by her too. That was the book that got me really into being myself through my work instead of trying to do things people had expected of me. Since reading her book I’ve learned more about myself and what I’m really interested in.

So far, there are a lot of great things to be read in this book. I’m only officially the first chapter in (I love to skip around in these sort of books, but I really do read the whole book eventually ) and the words “be brave” have stuck out to me the most. It may be because I have a special place in my heart for the word brave (it’s my youngest son’s middle name). Being brave is such a good thing to have stuck into my head through this journey. I’m excited to try new things, why not have courage to do things they way we want to and not how we’ve only seen them done before.

I like the idea that all the things we make are one of a kind. Since we repurpose materials it’s unlikely that any piece will look just like another.  It leaves room for creativity ALL the time. Rachel and I are constantly coming up with new ideas and we aren’t pressured to keep to one particular path.  Between the two of us inspiration comes from so many different sources, we never really know what we are going to pick up next and make something awesome out of it.

-Hannah