Bee's Buzzings

Our Little Silver Lining . . .

Just chilling - the new addition to our family:

After recently losing our two beloved cats within 6 days of each other (Jinx, 13, to cancer and Bobby, 12, to assorted medical issues) we adopted this sweet kitty from the Humane Society. Despite our sadness, Devon has added many smiles to our lives these past few days.

Relaxed cat? She's actually napping in the above photo!

Isn't she just too cute for words??  ♥

Thanksgiving Eve!

It was a busy day here - but only partly spent working in my Art Studio.  Since we're hosting a group for Thanksgiving tomorrow, I was also very busy cleaning, getting recipes figured out and cooking potatoes and pies.  But first I wanted to get a few new Mini Note assortment mixes photographed and listed in the Shop.  Here is one of the two new sets, the other is of the Swirly Bird series.

I'm thankful for many things, first and foremost my wonderful family and friends.  But also way up there on the list is having a job that allows me to work from my home studio and be here when our kids need something.  As most moms know, it seems just about every other week during the school year there's either a late start, a teacher in-service day or some type of vacation day.

And today?  It was a gorgeous scene outside (as the sun was getting ready to set) but the weather we're having here in Minneapolis kept me looking out the window and checking my cell phone until the girls were all safely home, or in Danielle's case, safely to Florida, where she will be until Sunday.

If you are here in the States and celebrating tomorrow, I wish you and yours a wonderful Thanksgiving.  And to all others, a wonderful day and remainder of the week!  I'm also very thankful to all of you!

♥ Bee

Finally got the bedroom drapes up

There's always a fine line when balancing "hard" and "soft" elements when decorating.  And of course, personal preference (and climate) plays a part in the equation, as well.  As cold as it is here in Minnesota, I'm definitely drawn towards cozying things up.  And our bedroom is no exception - especially with such a large expanse of windows on the southern wall.  So almost exactly 180 days since moving in, I finally installed the draperies - and WOW what a difference it makes.  

Proof, here is a Before photo

and a shot from the upper landing, looking in.

After waking up this morning to 20 degree temps outside (and a slick of ice covering every imaginable surface), we really appreciated how comfortable things are finally starting to feel inside.

Jim teases me that he's tired of hearing me say it . . . but I really LOVE this house ♥

Hello . . . some cheery notes for Spring

Well, we're finally past the coldest week of the year.  Historically speaking, that is.  But warmer days are definitely ahead!  And with the longer periods of sunlight each day, I can't help but think of Springtime and Easter.  Which prompted this set of 4 cheery note cards.  In my Etsy shop, sometime tomorrow.

Last night Jim and I went to see The Blind Side, and really enjoyed it.  Tonight we had "Game Night" with the kids and some of their friends and played Apples to Apples. I've really enjoyed my down time these past 5 weeks, but am also definitely ready to get all the kids back to school (next week Katie returns for her Spring semester) and have the house - and my studio - quiet.  I seem to do my best painting when I'm alone, something that has worked against me since Katie's fall semester ended in mid December.

In the next few weeks I'm also hoping to get some gardening plans finalized.  Though here in Minneapolis the last frost can occur quiet late in the year so it's really not a top priority right now - just something I really enjoy!

Hope you're thinking of Spring, too!

Frosty Minneapolis Morning

What can I say?  I love the way the bare trees and shrubs look on those glorious winter mornings when the air temperatures exceed the ground temps.  Voila!  An instant Winter Wonderland.  Today was another such morning, so these shots were taken before the moisture was wicked away by the sunshine that's just broken through.

Think I've taken similar photos every year when this has happened.  And probably always will - since the effect never fails to enchant me. I especially love the way this shot of our side yard hydrangea turned out.

Off to a movie and dinner later this afternoon with Katie.  Think we're going to catch "New Moon" since it's still in the theaters.  She'll be starting her spring semester at U-W, River Falls in another couple of weeks, so we're getting in some together-time before her schedule once again becomes too hectic.

Hope you are staying warm, and discovering similar little blessings as we round the corner towards Spring! 

Where did the year go?

Of course my kids would disagree, but to me it seems like the new century and "Y2K" were just the blink-of-an-eye ago!  And here we are, beckoning in the second decade already . . . Wow!

There has been so much change in my life, and with my family these past 10 years.  Though there have been challenges (sometimes coming in quick succession) the beginning of 2010 finds us all stronger, happier, healthier and with greater focus and eager anticipation for the future. 

Our four kids continue to be a source of pleasure and inspiration.  And Jim and I spend many an hour planning our next home.  We're not sure exactly when those plans will become a lot, foundation and construction zone, but we do know it will happen in time.  Patience and I have become friendly, at last :)

The new year will bring change, most notably my newfound resolve to establish more consistent routines.  As many of you moms know - kids can and will consume all your free and flex time, if allowed to do so.  I've learned that protecting my creative time will be a priority in the new year.  And one way I'll be doing this is by using a weekly Sketch Journal.  This journal, and these pencils, will record and encourage my progress these next few months (and in the years ahead).  I hope you will enjoy seeing ideas come to life and events as they're recorded.

Hope you and yours have lots to look forward to in 2010, and hope you've had a wonderful Holiday Season!

Who Loves Mittens??

Amazing to think that Thanksgiving is already over . . . and Christmas is rapidly approaching.  While I'm more ahead of things in my Etsy shops than last year, I'm definitely lagging behind on my holiday shopping once again.  Luckily for me, the internet is open 24/7 :)

We had a very eventful Thanksgiving Day.  Starting at 4 a.m., to be exact.  The morning was quiet and the kitchen filled with delicious aromas as I baked both a pumpkin and deep dish apple pie.  Had to get a jump on things as Kristi was running in a 5K around Lake Como in St. Paul at 8:30.  I'd opted out - any time the temps fall below 35 degrees I'm just not interested in jogging outside - but went to cheer her on in my down coat, mittens and a pair of shearling boots, which kept me toasty-warm!

Soon we were off to an early family Thanksgiving dinner complete with many very tasty side dishes.  My favorite was the stuffing with wild rice that my sister-in-law and her husband had prepared.  Absolutely delicious!

As far as the blog - I'm trying to get caught up on contest win information, and hope to do so in the next day or so.  Appreciate those of you who know I'm behind and yet remain patient with me!  Thank you.

For those of you in the States - hope you and yours had a fabulous Thanksgiving feast!  And my early Holiday Greetings to all of you for a fun yet restful season ahead :)

♥ Bee

and even more progress :)

Shop progress - am getting to the holiday artwork this week - yayyy!  Have also added more mini note combinations to my Etsy shop (and more to come soon!) but SO love these little mini bird notes - aren't they too cute??

House progress - we've been busy moving items back into the house - had to get everything out of the storage unit we rented while our house was on the market.  Will be listing some things on Craig's List, and have even more items heading to Goodwill.  The great news is that with all the re-arranging we'd done for prepping the house for showings, it looks fresher and even more inviting than before.  Life is good and I am now very excited about decorating for the holidays.

Personal progress - have been getting on the treadmill and continuing to eat well and lose more weight.  Am up to 2 miles jogging and have achieved a 6 pound loss after three weeks.  This is pretty eventful for me as I usually lose momentum after the first week or two  :)

Family progress - both Krist and Danielle have new 'driver' updates.  Kristi passed her driving test yesterday and was happily tooling around the neighborhood solo (we're taking it slow!) And Danielle, who passed her permit test recently, had her first opportunity to drive after Kristi and I got home.  It was a nice bonding moment for the girls - and probably a day neither is likely to forget.  They both did great, but my stomach was still in knots. 

You'd think after going through this with the first two, I'd just take it in stride . .  . but oh well, that's just not happening LOL :)

CONTEST progress - and lastly, here is the first of 3 opportunities to win a FREE BeeDazzles item:

The first person to comment (below) can go select ANY art pendant for FREE.  Just click here to view my Pendant Shop, and then transact the pendant of your choice and I will mark it PAID and ship it to you (you'll need to have an Etsy account to do this).  And if you're not first - well, just be on the lookout in the next few days - there will be two more winners!

Thanks again for stopping by, and hope you have a great day!

Bee

Making progress

Aren't these little guys just SO cute??  A glass mirror on one side, and sweet Holiday motifs on the other!  They make great stocking stuffers or hostess gifts. Or keep a supply on hand for those unexpected gift-swapping situations :)

In addition to finally getting some holiday images set up for pocket mirrors, I'm also thrilled to say that I'm making progress in another area of my life as well - and am down another 1.5 pounds this week (for a total of 4.5 so far).  One thing is certain - it's a LOT easier to jog with 4.5 fewer pounds!  Which gives me additional motivation to keep going. 

Will let you know how it continues, but I do know the timing is finally right for me to focus on this now.

In addition to the extra fitness and studio time, we've also been busy with the girls' fall sporting events, yard chores and Vikings football. I love autumn and all the activities we're involved with this time of year!

Hope you have a great night!

Bee

Lots of updates . . . and the start of an early winter

I'm always amazed at how quickly time goes by.  It seems every time I turn around another 3 weeks has passed since my last blog post!!  Will try and do better about keeping up. I mean, it's certainly not for a lack of things to share. Since the last post we've had two more birthdays (Katie's 20th and Kristi's 16th) and we also made a big decision about our house.   

Jim and I were both pretty excited about the idea of downsizing and fast-forwarding our plans for an eventual lake place.  So we priced our home somewhat realistically to start (about 10% off 2007 values) . . . or so we thought.  Well, the price brought in a handful of showings - so it must have been 'fair' at the very least.  But things weren't moving as quickly as we'd have liked so we did the updates mentioned earlier (hardwood and appliances), and as further incentive we dropped the price $30,000 in hopes of enticing a quick sale . . . and were unpleasantly surprised to have the showings drop off along with our price.

So after a few weeks of practically no showings we finally decided to drop the price another $23,000 - which put us within about $10,000 of our bottom that we were willing to take.  Of course this would bring some buyers in, right?  Wrong. Nada.  Seriously not one phone call.  So rather than continue to kick ourselves, we finally looked deeper into the market and realized that the statistics spoke for themselves.  Of the 22 homes in our school district in a $200,000 range around our home's value that had come off the market in the previous month, only 2 had sold.  Two additional homes were 'pending' and the other 18 had expired or canceled the listings.  And of those sold and/or pending, I'm willing to bet most if not all were bank owned, and selling at a 30% discount.  Bottom line, having the house on the market proved to be an exercise in futility.

The good news?  There's really nothing about this house I don't like - it's just a little too big for our lives at this point.  But it's now also clean, repair-free, updated and de-cluttered.  Which makes it much easier to keep clean.  So, there IS a silver lining in every cloud!  And now that everything here is in order, I can once again turn my attention back to my studio and some new art - after all the holidays are approaching quickly, too!

Quite frankly, if the recent weather here is an indicator of what this winter is going to be like, I'm feeling VERY thankful we're not moving . . . check out this porch scene out from a week or so ago . . . brrrrrrrrr!

So be on the look out for new art, and (finally!) some contest winners in the weeks ahead.  Maybe even some spontaneous winners . . . peek back often and you may be one of them :)