About Amy

paper me, paper you

when i was little i had this really cool, gilda radner paper doll book.  i could dress gilda in her most popular costumes from saturday night live and other silly get-ups.  of course somewhere along the way, i lost it. bummer.

i never actually played with the dolls but i loved how detailed and vibrant they were.  i also wasn't too keen on cutting up my pretty book.

fast forward thirty years.  sophia's had her fair share of paper dolls...mostly of the disney variety.  but after she was gifted the black apple paper doll primer, an obsession was born.  her obsession.  my obsession. oliver's obsession.  we carefully color copy each character and it's clothing and painstakingly snip them out. we've also delighted in creating little paper me's.  

paper me likes to get all dolled up (pun intended).

i also broke down and finally ordered a couple prints to liven up our abode.  like my friend sarah says, "it's just magical."  i just want to live in their world.

in case you don't already take regular trips into emily martin's curious world, here's the link to the black apple.

amy

five years

where were you five years ago? five years ago, i had a sweet, three year old girl in preschool, a bouncing, nine month old baby, a house we had moved into just three months before, and everything figured out.  you know, kind of.

but where will i be in five years?  how will i be spending my days?  where will i have traveled?  keith received the book, 5: where will you be five years from today? , for christmas.  after flipping through it over and over again, it really got me thinking.  so here i am, attempting to blog again, armed with a journal, a camera, and the red velvet art journaling class, ready to reflect and to look ahead. 

in a little over five years i'll be 41.  a lot of people i know are so sensitive about their age.  they don't want to celebrate birthdays (craziness!), they feel aged at 30 (even more craziness!).  well i'm not one of them.  as long as i am filling up my years with wonderful, enriching experiences, i don't care how old i am.  so how will i fill the next five?

france for sure...just have to find someone to go with me.  dinner parties.  lots of books.  maybe some classes. i'd love to learn how to knit.  i'll still be living in kansas city, surrounded by friends and family.  i don't need to run a marathon or hike to the bottom of the grand canyon or bungee jump or make my millions.  i just want to have fun and think "those were the best five years!"  want to join me?

amy

p.s.  i'd love some fun ideas.  share one thing you just have to do in the next five years.  go on.  leave a comment.  i dare you.

The Day After

Every year the day after Thanksgiving is reserved for our little family of four. We stay close to home and spend our day decking the halls. We kept things simple this year (or at least tried to), leaving a few surfaces clear for a bit of a visual breather. Here are some snippets from around our Christmas wonderland.

A little bit of thanksgiving

1. The most delicious cheesecake EVER! Bourbon pumpkin cheesecake. Yum!
2. "horsing" around with cousin Hudson.
3. More fun in the barn.
4. Post-feast time with my sweetie.
5. Oh that silly Snoopy!

A few pictures and a few thoughts

As much as I hate seeing people on their phones, I fully admit that i would have to completely abandon picture taking and blogging without my iPhone. Blech. I like it that I don't have to edit photos or look for cords stuffed in the back of a drawer.

And on another note...does anyone else think that the blogging world could use a big jolt of reality? I mean I am sitting here at my daughter's Tuesday appointment, covered in dog hair, makeup long melted from my face, wondering what on earth I can put together for dinner, and thanking my lucky stars there's a cold bottle of wine waiting for me in the fridge. I cannot imagine going home to craft or turning the camera on myself. I cannot stand Mad Men, I have a plain old fake green (gasp!) Christmas tree, dust balls the size of my dogs, and dishes from last night's dinner sitting on the counter.
Whew. How about you?

Weekend fun

This is going to be a fabulous weekend! Be sure to head down to Liberty Belle in the bottoms. I was down there earlier today and spied some real treasures. I fell totally in love with this green and orange rocker but Keith is adamant that we don't have the space for yet another chair.
The kids have headed out to see Puss in Boots with daddy and I'm waiting for my girlfriends to come on by. We are on our way to a friend's farm for a wonderful ladies sleepover. So excited.
Happy weekend!
Amy

Slushy

The kids are off school today and we've been taking it easy. We attended an amazing fall party last night hosted by some of our favorite people. Needless to say we're wiped out. Gotta rest up for trick or treating.
We made cider slush this afternoon with our nearly unused-had it for thirteen years-icecream maker. It was delicious though Sophia thinks it would be even better spiced. I totally agree.
Now we're watching some Coraline. Creepy stuff- the kids are a little freaked out.
Happy Halloween!

A day at the farm

Last weekend we headed to our favorite pumpkin spot- red barn farm. It was a perfect fall day.

catching up and breathing in

you know when you let too much time go between visits and it just gets harder and harder to call that friend?  that's how i started to feel.  how do i just pop back in?  just like this i suppose.

this is how yesterday smelled...extra spicy pumpkin muffins with chocolate chips

it looked like an almost clean house...i even felt motivated to plan a pretty project!

i didn't have the right color of thread so i hopped on my bike and headed to the dime store.  it was a beautiful ride.

we went to see these guys at the general store & company.  i'll share some pictures of our recent treasures.

and i spent time with this lovely lady.  

ah, now that wasn't so hard.  it's good to be back.

crafts for the not-so-crafty

my hip little crafty club is starting up this friday!  hooray!  it took a miracle, but we managed to find a night we could all gather together for cocktails and artistic adventures.  i've so been looking forward to it but still can't nail down a project i'd like to bring along.  i have so many in my lineup but feel like i should choose something i can actually complete.  

one of our friends claims to be "not-so-crafty" as so many do.  i thought i'd also come up with a few ideas for the craft-doubters out there.  remember, hand-made does not have to be perfect and does not have to look "country".  some of my favorite, simple ideas:

*a fantastic pom pom wreath.  bleubird featured a great diy a couple years ago here.  it is so simple!

*the humble paper chain.  i seriously love paper chains, especially those made with pretty vintage papers.  currently the kids' rooms are adorned with brightly colored chains.  

*embroidery, embroidery, embroidery.  i believe everyone can embroider. my favorite patterns come from sublime but your kids can sketch a few patterns for you lickety split.

*crazy, unique, handmade cards featuring all types of paper ephemera. just start collecting receipts, tickets, tape, junk mail, old magazine clippings...

*statement jewelry made from old brooches and clip-on earrings 

for more ideas, these are some of my favorite resources...

the lonely sock club

and for the fun of it...

don't you love those sedaris kids?

amy