cozyblue

134/365

asheville city market

121/365

i took adella downtown today for the big love fest (which was awesome!  and no, we didn't have a booth.  i loved every second of being a festival go-er and not a festival do-er this time) and she spotted this rock while playing at the park.

we love asheville!

pink. for real.

just a few pictures from a recent afternoon outing...













can you believe all that amazing pink?  i hardly can.  
these were taken last week, at one of the parks that we love to visit.  everything is in full bloom around here right now, and i had this tree in mind when i suggested this particular park to the kids one afternoon (aren't i sneaky?)

this cherry is just HUGE.  and full of huge, fat, full, pink blooms -- it is just SO unbelieveably pretty.  i'm not exaggerating when i say that, in the couple of hours that we were there, i took over 200 pictures of this tree.  it was so hard to narrow it down to just a few to share here!  and i still wasn't able to capture the whole entire tree in a way that i wanted to.  (there are more pictures on flickr)

trees and colors and settings like this remind me how lucky we are to live in such a beautiful area of the country.  and springtime days like this one make the long, cold, gray winter totally worth it.

we ::heart:: spring

everybody say 'waterfall', originally uploaded by cozyblueliz.

we've been happily busy this past week, enjoying the beautiful spring weather. and i've just uploaded oodles of photos to flickr, so please hop on over and check them out.
click right here to see a slideshow -- it's fun!

(i think the pictures do a better job of summing up our days than i could, anyway!)

xo

bikes, and scooters, and simple treasures

adella had a plan for the afternoon yesterday -- as she does many days.  as soon as she stepped foot off the school grounds, she asked to go to "the park by the river, with no playground, except some swings, with the loooong track for riding bikes."  and though the weather was a little chilly for me, i agreed.  and i'm so glad i did!  the kids had a ball -- we all did -- and it wasn't really that cold after all (especially with the nice cup of afternoon coffee that i stopped for on the way).



griffin is getting so quick on his little scooter.  he's very proud.  but he wishes he could go as fast as adella.  he's always shouting, "wait for me, adella!"



but she never gets too far ahead.  



she's usually waiting for us right around the bend, and more often than not she's found something special that she wants us all to see.







once again, these amazing kiddos reminded me to get outside, get moving, go exploring... to notice the small treasures hidden within the normal everyday stuff.  thanks, you two.  



xo

p.s.  this is week 2 of we scout wednesdays, over on scoutie girl.  (see more here)  it's fun to play along!

snowapalooza

we're thawing out here, slowly...  this past weekend brought a major winter storm to the mountains -- over a foot of snow in less than 24 hours!



school was canceled friday, and it started snowing about 7 a.m.  normally, a snow day would be exciting news, but that day we were a little disappointed because it was the kids' last day before the holiday, and adella's class was planning to have their holiday party (which i had planned and coordinated).  we'd also been working on some super-special teacher gifts for adella's awesome (osum, as adella spells it) - awesome! - teachers, and we wanted to give them before the break.



anyway, as it happened, the snow started falling steadily at 7 a.m. and did not stop ALL DAY!  i could not believe all the snow -- it just kept coming.  roads were terrible (some were completely impassable), thousands of people lost power (ours was out about 24 hours), and the entire area pretty much shut down for a few days.



the kids had a blast.  there was LOTS of sledding, until the snow got too deep for our plastic sled.  there were snow angels.  snowpeople were built (one for the yard, one for the freezer).  snow cream was eaten.  snowball battles were fought and won.  neighbors went out for milk.  fires were built and tended, carefully.  hot cocoa.  lots of hot cocoa.  wet clothes were dried, put back on, again and again.  rosy cheeks, cold toes, wet mittens, snow-covered hoods.



saturday i had to work.  i was very nervous about getting out on the road (i know now that i could NOT have driven in it) so work sent a driver to pick me up.  once there, i ended up staying a working a double shift, in exchange for a ride home and the next day off.  it made for a very long and exhausting day, but i did it.  and best of all, this is what i got to come home to:



i don't think i've ever been so happy to be home.  home sweet home.

yay!

as i mentioned, the big crafty was sunday.  it was so much fun!!  so many amazing crafters everywhere.  i really wanted to buy some things, but honestly, it was too hard to choose!  it was so nice to see everyone coming together to enjoy arts and crafts, music, food, and the holiday spirit.  so many sweet folks came to my booth, and i'm thrilled that people loved all my cozyblue goodies.  here's a photo of my table (i got a nice window spot -- yay!  but it made it hard to take a decent picture...):



i had such a good time, and it was a big success!  
so -- THANK YOU to everyone who came to see me there!

the Big Crafty!

this sunday, downtown, there is a spectacular indie craft show, The Big Crafty.  over 100 local artists and crafters, local food, local beer, music, raffle prizes, and more!  it's going to be great.  if you are in the area, i highly recommend that you stop by and check it out.  it's a great place to get some holiday shopping done -- you can check so many people off your list, buy them some wonderful handmade gifts, and have fun doing it.   don't forget to buy something for yourself too!

and, i'll be there!  i can't wait!  for the second year, i'll be setting up a table full of my handmade goodies.  i'll be temporarily closing my etsy shop and taking all my stuff to the show.  i'll also have some new items to debut there.  here's a little show-and-tell for you:


these are some cute little blank art books.  i fused a fabric 'frame' onto the (hardback) cover of each one, and made a little matchy drawstring pouch to hold the crayons.  7 different fabric designs.  perfect for the little artist in your life!


doily print coaster set!  i screenprinted the doily image onto cork, and cut it into quarters.  sold in sets of 4.  super awesome.  i love doilies.


here's a sweet little fabric bookmark.  can also be used as tiny wall art, or a nice reminder.


happy acorn ornaments!  the little caps are, of course, provided by mother nature.  the acorns are made of polymer clay, with handpainted faces.  and a bakers twine hanger.


and, last but not least, tree print wall art!  i won't have any customs available at the big crafty, but i do have a couple of these made up, and stretched on 10x10 canvas -- ready to hang!

on that note, i'm happy to say that i'm almost caught up on my pillow orders!  i've sold over 150 -- i cannot believe it.  a couple weeks ago i finally had to draw the line and take the listing down from the shop.  i just need to catch up for a bit!  plus, i do actually have some crafting to do for myself and my family.  i'm really thankful for all the pillow love.  but i'm glad that a break is in sight.
after christmas i'll be taking a limited number of custom orders each week, depending on how many i can get ready in time.  this way, the pillows will still be available on a regular basis, but i won't be getting so overwhelmed with orders.  

anyway, i'm super-excited about the big crafty this sunday!  i'll check back in later with another update. 
over and out.

apple pickin' 2009

we finally got a break from all the crazy rain we've been having here.  the sun peeked out, the weather warmed up, and we took advantage of the gorgeous day by going for our annual apple picking trip.  

this was our fifth year at sky top orchard, and it was as beautiful as ever.  i'm going to let the photos speak for themselves, but please check out my flickr photostream, because there are many more there.

also, some links to past years at sky top:  2008, 2007, 2006.  it's fun to see the kid(s) and how they've grown and changed each year.  go see!

just one afternoon at the park, part III - the view from my bench