Chickity China the Chocolate Bunny

Here is my latest tasty, yet non-edible creation. This was fashioned from a pair of "magic gloves" into an adorable chocolate bunny. He is my newest listing in my shop. I'm very ready for nicer weather; a chance to get outside and do some digging in the ground. I can only tolerate rain, wind, sleet, and snow for so long!

A First

I had a bit of a shock today when I arrived home in my email. After a weekend of creativity, I had posted my 3 newest towel designs on Etsy with 2 of them featuring designs of something that resembled a beloved Easter treat made of white squishy fluff covered in colored sugar in the shape of a woodland creature (see pic in post below). This email stated that Etsy had been contacted by an individual regarding these 2 aforementioned items and due to copyright infringement, they were removed from the site. I searched for other similar items on Etsy the night I listed, and there were a few items that featured these yummy treats, but all of those listings were gone today! How rude! I never in a million years would have thought that something that has been around for so long would cause such a stir. I guess I thought wrong!

A Spring in My Step

Valentine's day has flown past! I hope everyone had a great day with their sweetie. Mine got me a gorgeous onyx-tipped crucifix on a silver chain. It definitely was quite the surprise. I got him a rockin' tie from Cyberoptix Tie Lab on Etsy. Their tag line is "Ties That Don't Suck" and I'll tell you that that is certainly true. With Jeff's new job at the university, he has cause to look dashing each and every day, but I felt this would remind people that he is still a young 30something. I spent part of the day working on some new creations for the spring/Easter season. Marshmallow peeps are for most people a love/hate relationship. I personally don't like to eat them, but they are quite adorable, which is why they are featured on 2 of my newest towels. I also had a need to make some little chickees with funky hair-dos. I think I have accomplished that with this towel, but I'm thinking that each and every one that I do is going to have to have different coifs. I'm thinking an Elvis hair, bald on top with hair on the sides...you get the idea.

Winter Blah Time

This time of year is always kind of blah for me. Believe me I'm very thankful for the 60 degree weather we're having today, but I'll be glad when we don't have to worry about ice and snow for a while. So I thought I'd post some random photos that I've been hanging onto just because I like them.

Saturday night bowling with the Audia's and the Cochran's.
This is Grandma Shepard with her granddog, Charlie Murphy in his super cool Old Navy fleece pullover. It has tiny grey pine trees on it!
I am sad to admit that the people depicted here are indeed my family. What can I say? They're some wicked loyal Steelers fans! My brother, Mark, sister, Courtney, husband, Jeff, and stepdaddy, Steve.
This last photo was taken during the celebration of the 1st anniversary of Leah Nelson's birth. 3 adults in a love seat=LOTS 'O' LOVE!

All This Talky Talky!

Valentine's Day is only a few short weeks away. I decided that I needed something fun and frou frou for my Etsy shop, so I came up with an idea for 3 sets of custom conversation hearts. The first set I did was the Flirty set. But what if you want something a little more risque than just flirty? Hence my Naughty set. Lastly, for those who may be faint of heart and not able to handle the Naughty or even the Flirty, the Romance set. I do believe that these will be the last of my Valentine ventures. Now onto spring and Easter! They are just around the corner.

My Lack of Bloggy Wonderment

Yes, I have been noticeably absent in the blogging world lately, but there have been some stressing issues in my life. I blogged about my experience briefly with my bout of appedicitis back in the middle of December. Then the holidays descended upon us all, which is a "get out of blog free card" in my book. The holidays lasted longer than normal due to my illness and having to reschedule Christmas with my family out of town.

After all the hustle and bustle of the holidays, I planned on things getting back to normal, but my grandmother unexpectedly had to have a quadruple bypass. That ended up going very poorly and, very sadly, she passed away on January 15th. I spent the first three weekends in January traveling back and forth between WV and PA to be with my family during that difficult time.

While all of the medical issues with my grandmother were going on, my husband's grandmother was also in the hospital. She had a stroke back in November and was in a nursing home/rehabilitation center. She went into the hospital on January 5th for respiratory problems, was diagnosed about a week later with colon cancer, and had a bowel resection that was thought to be successful. This Friday, however, she had to go back into surgery where her bowel had come apart at the incision and is currently totally out of it on a ventilator in the ICU. We're not really sure what is going to happen with this situation, but she has been through a lot. We'll just keep praying that whatever is best for her is what happens.

Christmas Cubicle Decorating Contest

I am sad that I did not get to post this much earlier in the season, but alas, my damned appendix had to go rogue and make things difficult. I figure that anyone that has to stare at lovely cubicle walls all day should appreciate the pics even if they are a bit late.


In order to spruce up our spaces this year and take away a bit of the monotony, I decided to sponsor a cubicle decorating contest. I really just wanted people to go crazy and over the top for a little friendly competition. I typed up some rules and a sign-up sheet in November listing 3 possible categories to enter into:
1. Great Griswold Christmas Cubicle.
2. Funky and Festive Christmas Cubicle.
3. Classy Christmas Cubicle (for those who couldn't handle the glare and funk!).


Overall, we had 7 entries (it's a small office), and Miranda came up with the fantastic idea of getting a Dundee-type award for the prizes. We used a local trophy shop and had 3 small trophies made, which unfortunately, I did not take pictures of. The shop did a fantastic job on them though. I have mine (I won the Classy Christmas Cubicle award) proudly displayed on my desk for all to view and lust after. I was hoping that having them displayed prominently would encourage a bit more fierce competition in '09.

*Top photo-Dwight's Cubicle
*2 photos to right-Bobbie's Cubicle and winner of the Great Griswold Christmas Cubicle 2008!
*4th photo down on left-Miranda's Cubicle and winner of the Festive & Funky Christmas Cubicle 2008!
*5th photo down on left-Michelle's Cubicle/Desk Area and my personal favorite
*6th photo down on left-Melinda's Cubicle
*Photo below-Cindi's Cubicle...and she made fun of me for having too much time on my hands!
*Missing-photo of Angie's Cubicle winner of Classy Christmas Cubicle 2008! I am searching for a photo as I think someone in the office has to have one. I was laid up in the hospital at the time of judging and photo shoot.

Bring on 2009!

Earlier in the year, I posted about giving 2008 a stink eye due to all of the crappy events that had occurred. Little did I know that I was only jinxing myself by posting that back in.....June?, I believe. 2008 continued on the path that it had set for itself during the 1st few months, going out with a bang on December 14th, when I required an emergency appendectomy spending 5 days in the local hospital. Not a great Christmas gift, if you ask me, but at least I won't have to worry about my appendix every again as long as I live.

So for 2009, I have decided a few things.

• I will not have any unnecessary surgical procedures requiring time off of work. Total time off work in '08 was 6 weeks. Four when I had my foot nearly chopped off for a plantar wart issue, and then 2 for the appendix going rogue.

• I am going to continue to move toward my goal of being more healthful by renewing my motivation in my Weight Watchers group and being more active.

• I am not going to dwell on negative situations or people and strive to be happy with my life and my choices every day.

Okay, so I realize this is a super serious, semi-sappy post, but everyone is entitled to one once in a while right? I should be posting very soon with some fantastic Christmas and New Year's pics.

Fuzzy Candy Canes

I found an awesome tutorial for felted candy canes at the feltcafe blog. I have been wanting to try to make felted items for a while, but just hadn't found quite the right project to inspire me to do so. Everything I saw just looked a little too over my head as far a beginner for felting went. This tutorial looked to be right up my alley ,and the perfect chance to make little package embellishments for the all the wrapping for the holidays.

After some searching on Etsy, I found 2 sellers to purchase small amounts of wool roving from to get started. I purchased my white wool roving from 7 Yaks Designs and a crimson pink roving from Wind Rose Fiber Studio. I was able to pick up all of the supplies needed for a little bit of nothing.

The process was very easy and only took me about 15 minutes to make 3 candy canes. I think if you wanted to produce a ton of them, it would not take very long at all. I've included a few pics, although I admit, they aren't the greatest. I may try a felted heart outline for the upcoming Valentine's holiday using the same materials and technique and tie a ribbon to use as a valentine's ornament. Happy crafting!

Sock Monkey Sock Hop

I know that I may be in the minority, but I have never owned a sock monkey. I vaguely remember my great grandma having one at her house that I may have played with many moons ago. One of my coworkers had asked if I could make some "funky" sock monkeys for her 2 boys for Christmas. I found a great online tutorial at Craftbits.com that was super informative and easy to follow. I figured I had to be able to do it when I started to read all the comments about kids and people who had no sewing experience whatsoever having great results with the instructions. I found the perfect socks at Target. Three pairs of knee high socks for $6.99. I chose the most traditional looking pair for my first attempt which I show here in this post. Sock monkey #2 is still being formulated in my secret lab. I think he will be much funkier than his older brother.

Vintage Reindeer Display

A few weeks ago while doing my daily cruising at Etsy, I came across these fantastically altered vintage flocked reindeer (seen in 1st pic to right) from Magpie Ethel's shop. After inquiring if she planned on having anymore available, I happened upon two of the unadorned treasures at one of my local antique shops, Fairmont Avenue Antiques, in Fairmont, WV for a very meager $3.oo each! (seen in pic to left)
I quickly snatched them up and set off to beglittering their antlers and hooves. It was a very easy process using Martha Stewart's glitter and glue that I picked up at Wal*Mart for about $6 if I recall correctly. It was a very easy process that took only about 15 minutes to complete both reindeer. So next I had to decide how I was going to display my fabulous new "flamboyant" deer as my husband put it. Little did he know that there was much more to come! I ended up ordering a couple of adorable handmade pink bottlebrush trees from Magpie Ethel's shop as well. She graciously offered to make necklaces for my deer to make them as sassy as the ones she had done. I found the last piece of my vintage puzzle at another local antique shop, Sweet Memories, also in Fairmont, WV....a set of 5 pink glass ball ornaments. I took a strand of white lights and laid a blanket of glittery snow over it, at the advice of a good friend. Also you can see our ceramic lighted Christmas tree in the background that we purchased in Gatlinburg, TN last year at their giant craft show.

Christmas is A-comin'!

I arrived home from work today to find that my lovely beer mug stocking had sold. I absolutely adored the idea of it, and loved the finished product even more. I held off on making multiples because who needs 10 beer mug stockings? Actually, who DOESN'T need 10 beer mug stockings? But I digress, the first one has finally sold. As soon as I finish up my first wholesale order for a shop in NY state, I will set off to make many more mugs of beer for your walls, or mantel, or wherever you may want a mug of icy cold deliciousness!