A World of Bud Vases!

2 years ago I was planning my own wedding. That was where the bud vase madness started. We were planning a wedding for 300 guests, which is not a cheap endeavor. I decided to make a few things myself to save a few bucks. It started with the invitations and programs. So how do you make inexpensive favors for 300 guests? I combined a few ideas I saw online to come up with some wonderfully cute bud vases.

I had no idea at that point, that I would start selling these and that people would love them! Since then I have sold over 1300 of these little guys! They have been at weddings, corporate events, bridal showers, baby showers and even private dinner parties. Here is just a sampling of some of the great projects I have been able to work on:

 

 

Until the next time …
The girl behind the lama …
~LMM

Baby Update!

I told my husband that I keep waiting for pregnancy to be blissful. I want the “glow” you know? Between the heartburn, the hurling, and the aversion to raw meat (which makes it really difficult for one to cook ..) it has so far definitely been far from blissful.

Last week changed that a lot – I started to feel the baby move! I was just over 14 weeks when I felt the first few flutters of movement and I must say it’s pretty cool :) It’s not often, but I usually feel it every day and it almost always makes me laugh because it tickles so much. It definitely makes pregnancy a little more blissful than the first few months have been.

On other news I’m craving fruit like you wouldn’t believe. It started very innocently with me eating a few apples and clementines a day. Now I have moved on to melons. I’m not exactly proud of it but on more than one occasion I have eaten half of a melon. That includes but may not be limited to both cantaloupe and watermelon. Last night my husband got sick of cutting up melons so he literally gave me half of a cantaloupe and a melon baller which I used as a spoon. I will not be ashamed – there is nothing wrong with fruit. I do of course have the occasional Oreo and Chex Mix binge, but I’m definitely all about the fruit. Having a girl maybe???

To all you moms – what did you crave when you were pregnant??

Until the next time …
The girl behind the lama
~LMM

Enough is Enough!

I am back to being an active member of the world again!  I think I am finally feeling more like a human being for the first time in awhile!  Where have I been?  Miserably curled up on the couch. I have been A) Pregnant and B)Sick.  One or the other alone I think I could have handled, but throw the two together and it just destroyed every ounce of energy I had in me. 

I had this sinus/respiratory infection thing that I just couldn’t kick.  My sinuses were clogged yet draining which meant I hacked up a lung all day but also couldn’t breathe.  They ruled out walking pneumonia and decided I just had a bad cold – which when pregnant you pretty much just have to deal with.  Now add that to my already queasy and exhausted pregnant state and I was completely wiped out.  My doctor finally gave me a Z-Pack last week and it has just been a wonder drug for me!  Within 48 hours I felt my energy pop back in and now a week later it’s safe to say that I’m almost done coughing (I hope) and I can breathe with ease once again. 

We also have renovations going on to my office/sun room so most of my supplies are either hard to get to or hard for me to find.  The walls are painted, the new carpet is in, and the desk cabinets are well on their way so hopefully in another week or two I’ll be back in business with my workspace.  I’ve got a bunch of new things I’ve either been working on or dreaming about so stay tuned!!

Until the next time …
The (healthy) girl behind the lama…
~LMM

Etta the Meerkat Visits – With BIG News!!!

There is excitement abound at LamaWorks this week with the arrival of Etta the Meerkat.  Etta is making a journey around the world to tour the workshops and cities with different members of the Etsy Treasury Team.  She started her journey in England where she was born, with Heather of NiftyKnits.  Since then she has visited Jacqueline of  Mozo in Oregon, Jeannie of Beadstylin in Kansas, and both  Mary Ann  of LindenAvenueDesigns and Lindi of Lindesigns and Lindenleafstudios in Texas.  Today she arrived to spend some time with me in good old Quincy, IL!

First on the agenda was to make sure she was friends with Luke, our ferocious Puggle. 

“Mom??  What is this thing?”

 

“I’ll give it a sniff ….”

“I guess we can be friends ….”

 

“Mom??  Can I go back to bed now?”

Success!  Friends they are as I knew they would be.

Etta couldn’t have arrived at a better time because I had a LOT of work to do!  Wedding season has begun and I’ve got the task of making 450 bud vases this week!  I definitely needed some help. 

We cut paper, scored it, printed out the bride to be’s wedding logo and cut the holes for the vases.

Etta tried and tried to help me glue the last batch of them together, but I’m afraid the glue stick was just a little to big for her. 

     

The vases were just her size though, so we made a great team getting the final assembly ready to go.

With the last of them packed up and ready to ship – I’d say we had a pretty successful day – Thanks Etta!

Day two in the shop Etta and I spent working on some new stationary.  I just got a shiny new Cricut cutting machine a few weeks ago and just loved the images that I was able to get from it so we decided that today was the day to put them together into stationary!

Which one is your favorite Etta??

The bird?

The Leaves?

Maybe the bird on the branch?

No wait!  The owl for sure!!

Etta’s vote??  Her favorite was the delicate butterfly – good choice Etta!  Wait a minute … I know all of those cards are blank on the inside, but I think that one says something on the inside.   Hey Etta – What does it say??

That’s right!  The girl behind the lama has a baby on board!!! We are so excited about the news!!  We just had our first Dr’s appointment today and all is going well.  I am about 12 weeks along and our little bundle of joy should arrive around August 25th!  Our ultrasound showed a little jumping baby that wouldn’t sit still, arm and legs moving all over the place.  Mom and Dad fell in love at first sight for sure.

I definitely can’t top that, so as sad as it may be, I packed Etta up with her treasures from along the journey including her favorite stationary from LamaWorks and she is off to the next leg of the journey to visit  Jaci at BytheWay.

Thanks for visiting Etta!!
Until the next time …
The girl behind the lama – plus one!
~LMM

Does it bother you if …

We all have our own obsessive compulsive tendencies right??? I’m not alone am I?? It’s just little things.  The toilet paper has to spin in a certain direction.  Your books all have to be alphabetized and in my case that also applies to your spice rack.  My friends at this point are all shaking their heads and remembering how they used to swap two of my spices and see how long it would take me to freak out and swap them back. 

I consider myself a bit of an organizational freak.  My house is never ever spotless, but I absolutely LOVE to organize things and pretend that it is.  Love the label maker.  Love baskets.  And yes, my yarn is all organized first by type, then by color.

Today I was baking cookies and came across another organizational thing that bothers me that I’m really hoping some of you can relate to so I know I’m not alone.  Does anyone else have to have equal numbers of cookies in rows and columns on a cookie sheet??  I seriously tried to rearrange my cookies today because the corner of parchment paper was ripped off and I couldn’t fit that one very last cookie on the sheet to make the perfect rectangle to cookies.  What’s wrong with me?

I noticed the same thing happened when I made meatballs a few weeks ago.  I had one row that had 2 fewer meatballs than the others and it actually bothered me.  Not enough that I did anything about it, but I did pause to make sure there weren’t enough scraps left to put together two more.

What little things drive you crazy??

Until the next time
The girl behind the lama
~LMM

The wonders of a new computer

I’m still exploring this new computer but I’m finding thing I like about Windows 7 more and more each day.  Like the program I’m using right now!  Anyone out there use Windows Live Writer???

I love it!  It’s like I’m writing something in Word.  An easy click of the button and  I change fonts or colors all just like I would in Word.  Ctrl+K and I add a hyperlink … Ctrl+L and I add a picture.  Then I’m done and I hit Publish and voila it appears in my blog! 

So much better than working in blogger!  You have no idea how long it used to take to import pictures.  They all come to the top of the post and then you have to drag them down because Copy and Paste don’t work.  Now I can import them right where I want them to be and I can even edit them right there!

I’m also a huge fan of having sticky notes on my desktop. Especially during the holidays it was so nice to have a running list of all the orders I had to fill and the order they came in on so I didn’t have to run to Etsy.  It was nice to have a separate list for the orders that I was waiting on the yarn to come in so I could give better shipping time estimates.

My other favorite?  Having a little weather icon.  I have two actually.  One for where I live and one for where my parents live.  It makes me feel a bit more connected to home and gives me a good reason to call and complain that it’s colder here than it is in the frozen tundra of northern Wisconsin.

So there … Consider me a fan of Windows 7!

Until the next time …
The girl behind the lama
~LMM

Welcome little flowers!

When something new comes into the shop, I rarely can take credit for the idea.  I have a lot of people that come to me and say, “Hey I really like product X, can you make it but change XYZ??”.  Thus the birth of a new product for the shop.

This new one comes with many thanks to my sister-in-law. For Christmas she really wanted a knit ear warmer headband with a flower on it.  Not something I carry in the shop, but I can work with that right?

Well the ear warmers are coming soon, but the flowers have premiered today!  I used some more great yarn from Knit Picks that comes in … get  this … over 80 colors!!!  Knit up some petals … sew them together … add on some beads and voila!  A super cute flower pin! 

 

Now available with free shipping to all of you blog readers!  By the way, I have to share … I received an order earlier this week and she mentioned that she loved my blog and it really made my day.  I always love reminders that more than just my family read my blog :)

Until the next time …
The girl behind the lama
~LMM

All the Best in the New Year!

Well I must say that I have thoroughly enjoyed taking 3 wonderful weeks away from the shop.  True I spent the first week finishing up orders and Christmas presents and I spent the last week curled up on the couch with a pretty bad cold, but all in all it was a wonderful vacation!

I got to spend time with my family and friends and that is what’s important during the holidays right?

I was just complaining that I had absolutely nothing to write about.  I’m just blank. Drained from the cold.  Nothing exciting in life other than cold and snow.

Then the events of today transpired … 

It’s a  normal Saturday – my husband’s birthday actually.  Happy Birthday sweetie!!!!  I was just getting ready to bake him a cake and I thought I’d check my email.  Look at that an order!  Exciting yes, but who knew what that order could do for my day?? 

In the “comments to seller” section it said “Love the gray merino wool cable knit hat!  Saw it on the Lucky Magazine blog.  Thanks!”

Lucky Magazine?????  What??? As in the fashion magazine???  You know the one that is published and sold on news stands everywhere???  Back up the truck!

Lo and behold I went to their blog and there I was!!! I don’t think the model is actually wearing my hat exactly, but it looks like my hat and more importantly it’s my hat that’s pictured below and is linked to my little Etsy shop!!!

http://www.luckymag.com/blogs/luckyrightnow/2010/01/fashion-copycat-cozychic.html

Woah!!! I have no idea how it got there or how they found me, but they did!  This is so surreal to me!  I’m just a girl that knits.  A girl that sits in her comfy chair, watches the Today show and Rachael Ray and knits most of the day away.  I don’t put a lot of money into marketing.  I’m active in the Etsy community and I have some great friends and relatives that talk me up around town, but other than that I’m just a simple girl with knitting needles and a love of yarn.  Who knew? 

We’ll have to see what comes of this, but I’m hoping this isn’t the end!!

Until the next time …
The girl behind the lama
~LMM

Mexican Wedding Cakes

First up on the cookie baking adventure is by far my most favorite cookie in the world and I think they should be eaten year round. Mexican Wedding Cakes!! YUM!! They are soft, buttery, sugary goodness.

When I moved into my first apartment, I couldn't believe it but my mom gave me one of our treasured cookie books! Of all things it is a collection of recipes from the Wisconsin Electric Company. They used to put it out every year. This particular edition is from maybe the 1950's or 60's??? It is full of pictures of little dolls with the cookies and is definitely very German - true to Milwaukee's heritage. It has recipes for Lebkuchen, Springerle, Pfeffernuesse, and Stollen - all things I love to try to pronounce.

Not exactly part of the German theme - but tasty are the Mexican Wedding Cakes

You should try them!!

Mexican Wedding Cakes
1 cup butter
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups all purpose flour
Extra powdered sugar

Cream butter; add sugar gradually; blend in salt, vanilla and flour. Mixture is stiff. Pinch off small pieces of dough; place on ungreased cookie sheets (actually the recipe says "cooky" and it makes me laugh). Bake at 400 degrees about 12 minutes. Roll in powdered sugar. Makes 4 dozen.

Let the Cookies Flow!!

I absolutely love the holidays. Love, love, love! My tree is up the day after Thanksgiving. I'm humming Christmas tunes before Thanksgiving and you can bet that "Sounds of the Season" is the radio channel of choice on the TV.

I especially love to decorate for the holidays and of course bake cookies.

The last few weeks I've been SWAMPED with custom orders for the shop. All of the holiday gifts, which is great! It does mean though that all I've done for the last 6 weeks is knit day and night and that's OK, but I do need a little fun in my life right?

Well, now it's Dec 8th and I am shutting my shop down for the holidays starting next Tuesday. I'm like a kid in school. The end is coming and I just can't focus anymore! I have 12 more orders to fill and hopefully be done by next Tuesday. Good luck with that.

It's too bad that I can't stay focused and just get it all done you know? Well, it's a good thing there are Christmas cookies in my life. Cookies always remind me of my mom. We always had the best Christmas cookies and we always had so much fun baking them together. Well, my mom is coming to visit this weekend and it's got me thinking of my family and I've decided to go on Christmas cookie binge! If I'm lucky (and don't run out of butter) I'd like to make new ones every day so that we can have cookies for the months to come. Stay tuned for updates and recipes!

What kinds of cookies does your family make for the holidays??

Until the next time ...
The girl behind the lama
~LMM