i had a commission last fall for a set of five alice in wonderland themed mobiles for a little girl named rosy. they were super fun to think about and sketch out and cut and string up on wire. i’ve listed them on etsy and can’t wait to make more.

the sun is lost in gray, it’s still wet and cold, days of rain and mud and kids who don’t want to be outside in it parading by. oh, january. you’re not going to get me down.

to illinois and back again, cousins and uncles and grandmas galore, cold winter winds blowing us into this new year, blowing all around us before we close ourselves in our rocket and launch ourselves south, mud and gray skies and rain for the taking.

we’re back into the school of things, the first full day of bookwork that sends me over the edge with boys who just want to run, to build, to make mouth noises that drive a woman to coffee, beyond. the house is an ever mess, the dog has come to sleep at the foot of our bed, his usual place too cold for the winter. black beans for dinner, grits for dinner, homemade pizza for dinner, dinner, dinner, dinner, make dinner, what’s for dinner, a ringing bell i’m caught inside, constant, loud, abiding: what’s for dinner!

in pretty news, there are valentines in the shop, mostly the age old royal buffet classics because after a christmas i don’t have it in me to produce many new lover things in time. i did a re-make of the lady & gentleman mobile, a heart that beats on the breeze instead of the butterfly of before. it’s going in the shop tonight. valentine orders for delivery in the USA need to be placed by january 31, so plan ahead, friends and lovers.

this week we’re doing school, afternoons one after another of one boy after another trudging through math and handwriting, feigning boredom through geography and history, silent and begging for more chapters in the hobbit. if all of school could be books read aloud while kids draw or build or string beads on a thread we’d have nothing to complain about.

all royal buffet christmas packages to ship are wrapped and waiting for the dark cloud of grumpy customers in line at the post. i can barely make myself take them out the door and into that mess, three kids in tow, face-lifted old women cutting in line, slow as molasses postal employees.

if we survive the post office, today we’re cleaning house, the kids are forcing me to iron the hundredth perler bead design, and we’re not baking any cookies because we baked them on monday and then ate them at a horrifying rate. but i just can’t say no to those peanut blossom cookies.

in shop news, i am now officially closed to take a holiday until after the new year. if you place an order through etsy you won’t be getting it until after january 10. please take note of this! i’m also really excited about some new things that will be making their way into the shop in 2012.

the weather here is beautiful, my kids are outside shirtless and barefoot (!), and even though christmas is a few days away, i’m already thinking of the new year, the feeling of a fresh start, clean closets and cabinets and shelves, running with music and max, eating primarily almonds and spinach for at least a short spurt. i blame the magazines that arrive at my door a month early (martha stewart january issue, i’m talking to you), shiny pages of organized drawers, these are what pulls me through the christmas crazies.

also, see that box up there? that’s my new sx70 (thanks for being such a terrific yard sailor, jeff), the foldable kind that doesn’t take pictures of the bottom of your purse when you jumble it around in such a way. yay!

emily jeffords, comment number 13!

thanks to everyone who entered and spread the word! you all are the best! you can try your luck in the next giveaway which comes in late january on the 4th anniversary of the shop!

december, from whence have you come!?

to celebrate december’s arrival and to get into the christmas spirit, i’m giving away a copy of my pretty book! yes, i know. exciting!

to enter the giveaway, simply comment on this post by midnight december 8.

for a second entry, tweet about the giveaway using the hashtag #makeanddo directing your followers back to this post and then come on back and comment again telling me all about your tweeting about the giveaway.

for a third entry, blog about the giveaway on your own little blog, directing your readers to this post, and then come back here and comment again (leave a link to your post!).

and lastly, (i know! four possible entries! what!?) “like” royal buffet on facebook, then go ahead and tag royal buffet in a comment on facebook, and then come back here and tell me that you did so.

be sure to comment four separate times if you want all four entries, because i know from past experience that i can’t keep an accurate record of tweeting and liking and whatnot unless you come back and comment.

if you are already following me on twitter, and liking royal buffet on facebook, that’s wonderful! yay! go ahead and comment, tweet and comment, blog and comment, and comment again about liking and tagging royal buffet on facebook.

’tis a little complicated, but someone will be a lucky winner! you can do it!

it really does feel too early, but it really is not so i’ve updated the shop with some ornaments and a few things that haven’t been there in awhile. these hero ornaments were popular at indie craft parade so there aren’t many in stock. if you want one, don’t delay. unfortunately batman was the first to disappear. there are also some other amazing things in this month’s poppytalk marketplace, check it.

indie craft parade is a tidy four days away. i hope you are coming! rumor has it there are still tickets available for the friday night gala event so mosey on over and get them if you want first dibs and good food and good drink. otherwise, i expect to see you saturday or sunday, buying chocolate and jewelry and garlands and the like.

in addition to new mobiles and ornaments and other paper loverlies, i’m excited to announce an extra special new bit of work that i am hoping to have at my booth this year: a book! Make & Do, Paper Fascinations for Every Lovely Occasion has been in the works all summer (thus the secretive shop and blog hiatus) and, thanks to a grand collaboration with my talented husband aaron and my also talented brother-in-law caleb, we’ve got a self-published book to debut at this year’s indie craft parade. yay! the book includes tutorials for old royal buffet favorites and new soon-to-be royal buffet favorites, my best pointers for working with paper, and fabulous photography that walks you through each step of the way. i have a limited number of books available for sale at indie craft, providing the printer comes through with them in time, and i am offering them for a discounted price of $16 by way of new book celebration. also, if you wish, i’ll humbly sign your copy for you with my favorite kind of pen.

now, don’t you think you want to have first dibs and get tickets for the gala on friday night after all?

for those of you who can’t make the craft parade i will be listing the book in my shop september 12th along with some new mobiles and garlands and paper flowers, so watch for it!

my mobiles are up at art & light this weekend, this month? i’m not sure how long they’ll be there. but the gallery is open today from 10-5. and even if you don’t care about my mobiles you must stop by to see the work of greg flint, paul flint, and kent ambler. there is a dog painting i’m a hankering after from paul, and greg has these amazing photo transfer still life pieces (how? i want to know how they were made), and then kent has the most clever little pieces involving bobble head pups which are impossible to describe and you will have to just go and see for yourself.

we went for ice cream last night after the show and we didn’t know that the teenager behind the counter was going to heap two huge scoops on each sugar cone. it wasn’t even that hot, but the meltaway of the ice cream was supreme. melting ice cream on small kids who panic and don’t know what’s going on with a melting scoop of ice cream is not pretty. but friday nights aren’t the same without some kind of sticky mess, i guess.

this weekend holds some thrifting, some work on some projects, some garland making for indie craft parade, and hopefully some kind of taco. i’m not hard to please, really.

i’m getting ready to close up shop at royal buffet for awhile to regroup, spend these long spring and summer hours with my family, and to work on other projects. starting this weekend i will only be taking custom orders for those who just have to have some royal buffet finery, but i won’t be listing anything on etsy for awhile. i feel a pull in too many directions lately and don’t want to be stressed out more than a mama has to be.

i read this post by liane (and you know, i only know her online but have this kindred feeling about her that makes it like she’s the awesome sister for whom i always wished but never had), and it really hit me in places that i’d been trying to ignore for awhile. i don’t want to spend too much time trudging along distracted by all of the stuff that’s out there. and while i do consider myself a person who is pretty much aware of how fleeting time is, how sacred it is to live, and who knows what’s up about what really matters, it’s pretty shocking how fast i can succumb to being a girl in sweatpants in front of some stupid tv show completely checked out with a handful of peanut butter cup wrappers crushed on the coffee table.

so, if there’s something you’ve been a hankering for in the shop, you need to get while the getting is good!

i’ve put a few new-to-etsy (if you’re local you’ve seen the like at art & light this winter) mobiles in the shop, most of them ready to ship. i also re-listed some pieces that i’ve not had in there for awhile, so pop over and check them out! if all goes well, i will have a few bird mobiles in there by the end of the week as well.