The Fairy Elf is Officially in Business!

All right, so while I have made my first sale, I don't actually have a "store" up and running yet.  I am still plugging away opening an Etsy shop, but there are so many things that have to happen first.  The big thing is settling on a name.  Thankfully, I've already decided on a staple to start with [crocheted vintage sun bonnets and sun hats for babies under a year] and a brand name [Lady Alainn] but the overall name is eluding me.  If worst comes to worst I'll settle on Heirlooms by Alainn unless y'all have any better ideas!

I also have a basic look and feel of what I want the store image to be.  It's just a matter of time until I relearn Adobe so I can create banners, tags, website images, and all that jazz.  Hopefully I'll be officially, officially up and running by next summer for a little bit of Farmer's Market action!

So why am I celebrating now if I still have a long way to go before it becomes completely legitimate?  As of today I have officially crocheted, packaged, and mailed my first order!  This means I am a professional now, right?  And that's reason enough to celebrate for me!  I took a few photos [forgive me, I'm terrible with lighting] and made a collage to commemorate the occasion.  A big thank you to Katie of Spero Naturals for being my first official client and Ariel of Wrap It Up With Ariel for being the inspiration that started it all!

"Vintage Rose" 17 1/2" circumference (9 MO)

While I'm still working on creating stock and finding a photographer, I am taking special orders until I get things settled down.  I have a variety of available thread and ribbon colours.  If you're interested in finding out more or possibly ordering one just shoot me an email at mary.lynne90@yahoo.com. 

A Kitten by Any Other Name....

Mr. M and I have a new housemate, and by the title of the post you can probably tell who it is.  Little Itty is approximately 8 weeks old and full of energy!  Any writing apart from flash fiction might get overlooked over the next few days/weeks as I adjust to full-time mothering this little attention-demanding squeaker.  [You just have to step out of the room for a second and she'll cry and whine as if she's been abandoned for months]

A social butterfly, snuggler, trouble-maker, and lover of plastic springs and music, this little bundle of meowing still has no name.  Mr. M and I have thought of a few but can't decide!  What do you think we should name her?

• A] Venice {Vinny}
• B] Maggie
• C] Pipsqueak {Pippy}
• D] Narcissa
• E] Sonnet
• F] {Insert name here}

House Camping

I've been a little inconsistent in participating in any writing, but for a very good reason.  We've moved!  Last Tuesday a truck came, loaded up all our things, and took off for Ontario.  We followed the next day.  It took three days to drive out here from Alberta, but we made it.  The moving truck gets here Friday so until then, we're house camping.  It's like being newlyweds all over again with no furniture, no money, and learning how to cook with what I have available.  Thankfully there's a Timmy's a block away and so here I am sitting in a corner with my hot chicken wrap, a fresh doughnut, and internet.

Our bed is currently our camping mats and sleeping bags.  We visited the ReStore here in town and purchased a decent looking sofa and chair set for our living room so we have something to sit on.

The set we found at the ReStore

Our "fridge"!

Mr. M managed to squeeze the water cooler into our vehicle so we have a bit of refrigerator space for milk, cheese, and other necessary trifles.  My stove is a single burner camping stove we have stored in the Mud Room.  Mr. M has to get the double burner working before I can use it.

Cooking supper

Mr. M getting the double burners working

Our neighbours have been exceptionally kind in introducing themselves and offering brooms, vacuums, cups of sugar, and any other service you can think of while we wait for our furniture and other things to arrive.  The houses across the street are all small duplexes, so we technically have four neighbours across the street and one on each side.  It seems a very friendly neighbourhood and I can't wait to explore it!

Lovely flowers our kind neighbours brought us

First Day of Spring!

It seems I unintentionally unleashed Second Winter full throttle here in Alberta with my last blog post.  Oops!  

And so this is my view out back on the first day of Spring.  Lovely, isn't it?  With the wind blowing and snow falling outside, one would think it the middle of January, not the end of March!  The forecast calls for that white, fluffy stuff off and on for the next week.  I think I'll have to wait on that snowman until things calm down a little!  There will certainly be plenty of snow to spare.  And to think, we were just praising the sunny skies and warm temperatures yesterday.  (Seriously, 45-50 F is t-shirt weather this time of year.) 
 
How do we cope with this sudden turn of events?  (Besides eating chicken noodle soup and drinking ginger mint tea with honey and lemon to ward off The Sickness)  Crochet, computer games, movie nights, LEGO, and playing in the fort that Mr. M built, of course! 



Next on the agenda?  Pillow fight!

Commemorating Second Winter

Well, it looks like winter is still here!  After a very sunny week that left the dry river basins of our sidewalks raging rivers, snow dusted the earth again last night.  It was delightful waking up with a fresh layer of powdered sugar over the muddy slush of the past few days.  To commemorate this "second winter", here are a few of my favourite shots from this past winter wonderland.

Nov: Ice stalactites, frosted bicycle, and gray skies

Dec: Snowed in up to our thighs!

Dec: Whipped cream waves lapping the house

Feb: Snowflake ornaments on a snowy, sunny walk

Now excuse me, I have a snowman to build!

Overheard at Timmy's

Whenever Mr. M has something work related to do in the city, I regularly tag along for the hour +/- ride to make a date of it.  Whether he's taking a class, doing an interview, or sitting in a meeting, I usually find myself spending a good portion of my time sipping tea and working on a crochet or writing project at a corner table in a nearby Tim Hortons (it's a fast food coffee shop that's extremely popular here in Canada).

I also like listening in on conversations around me, because you never know what hilarious thing someone will say next!  Sometimes I just have to write a quote down.  Below are a few of my favourites from the past couple of trips to Timmy's.

-----

Two older men sipping their double-doubles by the window.
"I recently heard a story about a comedian.  Wait, was it a comedian?  Oh right, it was Obama."


Junior High/High School tutoring session. Both females.
"OMG, you're so stupid.  Your only hope is memorizing the answers for the test and then copying mine."


Balding man in his early 50's with a large coffee in front of him.  It's roughly 10 AM.
"I don't really like coffee.  I only drink it if I have to...[more talking with his buddy, who has a small coffee]... This morning I tried a Starbucks latte.  It was really good."


A frazzled young woman in line.
"I told him, 'It's Momma to you!' and he just grinned at me and said, 'Oh Nanna, you're so funny.'"

Tolkien Personality Chart? Yes Please!

Thought this was quite fun!  I relate the most to Frodo, secondly to Galadriel.  Who do you relate to? (Myers-Briggs Test Here)

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