Valentine Sweeties...

Valentine's Day is coming up and I am having so much fun making little gnome & toadstool tot sweeties. 

Little Valentine bears are in theme too.  Come and visit my shop, MamaWestWind, to see all the Valentine pretties.

Until next time...

MamaWestWind SALE

Hi all!  I have so many lovely Holiday gifts, just waiting for the right home!  Please enjoy this 10% off coupon (HOLIDAY14), to my shop, MamaWestWind!  Now through December 19th. 

Until next time...

Small Business Saturday, GIVEAWAY!

I'm holding a giveaway at my MamaWestWind facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/MamaWestWind. 

Please come and enter and become a fan to get a special 10% off coupon code, valid for today and tomorrow only.  I have some lovely items all perfect for tucking into a Christmas stocking.  More dolls on their way to my shop as well, so keep checking in with me. 

 

Visit them all at MamaWestWind.  Until next time...

Valentine Bear Giveaway!

 

I'm so enjoying reading up on what everyone is doing for Valentine's Day!  It's giving me lots of fresh ideas for my littles.  If you have not yet signed up for the giveaway please do! 

Visit the Valentine Bear Giveaway post, here.  

Until next time...

MamaWestWind giveaway!

Beneath the Rowan Tree has been having a kick off for a new business venture on her facebook page.  Please come over, see what's it's all about and enter to win one of these MamaWestWind doll ornaments! (you have until 9pm est)

Oh and don't forget to vote for your favorite play silk!  I'm rooting for Heart of the Autumn Maple, hence my Autumn doll giveaway. 

Love to you all!  Until next time...

Valentine Gnomes...MamaWestWind

I've been busy!  Besides Autumn inspired dolls, I think Valentine dolls are just about my favorite dolls to make.  All that red, pink, white and LOVE, just beautiful.  So, if you're looking for some Valentines for your sweets, consider adopting a MamaWestWind doll. 

(Please excuse all the photo labeling.  I've been having problems with my photos being stolen lately.  So I'm experimenting with watermarking.)

Until next time...

Advent Dolls...

 

Tis' the season for meaningful traditions.  Here's a new one I've added to our celebrations. These little angels & snow children are available in my shop.  They fit perfectly into a holiday ring or advent spiral.  Take 10% off all purchases with coupon code, wintersale13.

I'll be back soon with more about making our advent season meaningful.

Until next time...

Snow Children...

Winter Holidays are upon us already!  Just 34 days until Christmas, can you beleive that?  It seems to sneak up on me every year, which is odd since it's the same day every year.  Tis the life of a parent! 

I've been busy being Santa's little elf at MamaWestWind.  I'm super excited to introduce my Snow Children dolls.  If you're familiar with the book, The Story of the Snow Children by Sibylle von Olfers, you may recognize them.  They're made to fit into a Waldorf Ring or Advent Spiral. They are very simply drawn and sealed with a non toxic, glittery varnish. 

I've also made some Winter pouch babies and new in my shop are these bendy dolls.  I plan to craft like crazy as much as I can in the next couple of weeks, so keep checking my shop for new dolls and ornaments. This is the busiest time of year for me & my shop pays for Christmas gifts as well as all our home school books and materials.  So, I thank you very much for your support of my shop! 

Also I'm thrilled to say that I've been included in the Mindful Home, Ultimate Etsy Holiday Gift Guide!  There are such beautiful items and artisans featured.  Please go check it out!

Until next time...

Grab a Cup of Tea...

Are you working on that holiday shopping list?  This black Friday instead of racing to the crowded, big box store in the wee hours of the morning, grab a cup of tea and check out the Natural Kids Team 2013 Holiday Gift Guide!  No need to go out in the cold. Point and click and spend your hard earned dollars on beautiful, natural, handmade.  The money you spend on these gifts will go directly to the maker, no middleman, no sweat shop, just hard working families.

This guide is a feast for the eyes, enjoy...

Until next time...

Ah, retreat...

(this is a covered garden)

This past week I attended and taught at the Homefire retreat hosted by Radical Homemakers of NM.  The retreat was at a beautiful permaculture community outside of Santa Fe New Mexico, a few hour jaunt from where we live. My husband and I stayed the night at the retreat site, in the guest or "kitchen house" as it's called, a sweet little historical house with a giant community kitchen.

We began our retreat (in front of a historical chapel)  introducing ourselves and discussing what Radical Homemaking is.  It was such a beautiful, thought provoking discussion.

After our intro circle we had our choice of classes, Real Food Kitchen and The Garden in Winter.  I chose gardening. Not an easy choice as the kitchen smelled divine!  I learned so much about winter gardening in the Southwest.  Later there was Herbal Apothecary and my toy making class where we made Leaf Sprite bendy dolls. I enjoyed sharing my passion for toy making. Last of all was a beautiful Waldorf puppet show.

I learned so much this weekend!  To the point where it's all sort of swimming in my head,  a mess of new knowledge, longing, hope & possibility.  One theme that really stood out to me, was not creating our separate little homes in a vacuum but opening ourselves up to community. So, how to put these new thoughts into action? I'm mulling over a few ideas...

Thank you Arina, Kyce, Erin, Brenna and all the participants for making me feel so welcome. 

Until next time...

Homefire Retreat Getaway

Lately, I've been hard at work preparing for my upcoming toy making workshop. We will be making these leaf sprite bendy dolls.  The work shop will be held this Sunday at the Homefire Retreat, given by Radical Homemakers of New Mexico in Santa Fe.  I'm so happy to be presenting but even more thrilled to be attending the other workshops. Workshops such as The Garden in Winter, Autumn in the Kitchen, & Celebrating the Light with Story, Song, and Verse.  

My husband and I honeymooned in Santa Fe, so we decided to make it a weekend getaway.  The kids will be staying with our good friends and we will have ourselves a weekend away!  We'll have 2 nights, and a day together to explore Santa Fe.  Then while I'm at the retreat my husband will be checking out the famous Canyon Road galleries.  We haven't done anything like this since Michael was born (almost 9 years ago) so we're pretty excited!  The boys are excited too, they have been counting the days until their weekend sleepover.

I can't wait to share toy making with this group and learn more about Radical Homemaking.

Until next time...

If only, If only...

Between home school and my MamaWestWind business life is full to overflowing at the moment. Plus our Papa is working almost non-stop since he received a promotion.  We are so grateful for the promotion but, wow, has it ever been a transition.  For years we've thought, "if only, if only...".  You know what I mean, "If only we could (insert your own if only here), then everything would be perfect".  We've learned a lesson that there really is no "if only".  "If only" is just a distraction from the present.  Your dream can come true and yet life with all its issues does not suddenly stop and turn perfect.  No, I'm really seeing that life is NOW.  All those times we dreamed about "if only" we weren't really living in the NOW and experiencing the good here in this moment.  We were living in a future that wasn't even real.  Ha!  It's one of those lessons that I've heard and read about before yet I really didn't fully understand until I experienced it.  I'm grateful for the lesson and the reminder to stay present.  (That's not the easiest thing for me.)  Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying we shouldn't dream.  Dreaming is good but it can become a distraction, even a destructive thing if we're not appreciating the present.  It's so important to be grateful for the good in life right now.

So a little update on life around here. We had a simple Michaelmas.  We made our candle, designed by Michael and we light it every evening.  Certainly, the light of Saint Michael's sword has been shining and pointing out the dragons I need to slay, as evidenced in the above experience.

 

In an effort to keep my sanity in motherhood and home school, we occasionally take a mud pie day off, or a time to clean the house day.  It's similar to a teachers prep day at school, a break to prepare or cut loose!  On this day the boys made a whole mud city with a bridge, castle, moat and a whole story that went with it.  They were fascinated by the way the water flowed around it.  They played this for hours and who was I to argue with such creative play.  They loved it. I loved it and took the extra time for inner work.  

 

We've been enjoying the last of the garden.  The Morning Glories we planted in honor of my Gramma, are spectacular.  We also made a tepee and planted beans and peas awhile ago.  We wanted to see how far they might climb before it gets too cold.  Not too far at the moment.  We're excited to plant around it next Spring.

I'm enjoying home school so much more now.  For some time Michael had been floundering in reading and started to dislike it.  This year we began a reading program called, All About Reading, and it's been like a magic elixir to the problem.  Michael is improving now by leaps and bounds, gaining confidence and enjoying it.  It's so wonderful to see. 

Owen is excited to do his bit of "school" too.  So much so that he motivates me to get going in the morning.  I love his infectious enthusiasm.  Both the boys are beyond excited about Halloween of course.  Owen has been making little scarecrows all over the house & outside.

In my shop, I've mostly been working on Fall items.  Here are a few.  

Well, if you're still with me friends, thank you!  What have you been up to lately?

Until next time...