a trip to the country

a friend called me a few weeks ago.

 she's one of "the mama's", at mama's happy in independence mn.

she lit a fire for me to bring some handmades out there to sell.

mama's happy is an occasional sale. if you're new to that concept~

it's what shops are called when they are open only one weekend a month,

(or once a season). i had been working on some sparkly hearts that very morning,

so i felt the creative burn and got busy. sparkly hearts led to message bricks and

then i hand dyed lengths of cheesecloth in beautiful organic colors to sell.

 last week i had all my goods finished, tagged and ready for drop off.  i loaded

up my (dirty) jeep and headed west. it's a beautiful drive from my 

house to independence. you go through a couple small towns and

past many beautiful old farmsteads.

i grew up on a dairy farm with a big white barn. i cannot imagine how sad

our rural landscape will be when these big old beauties no longer dot

the countryside. in case you haven't noticed, no one is building wooden barns

anymore. now they are all metal. in the last few years, i've watched the

magnificent old barn below start it's descent back to the earth.

amanda, who owns mama's happy, lives above the old creamery that houses

her business. she told me a year ago she was going to build a coop and

raise chickens. they're here!!! omgoodness it made me happy when i

crawled out of the car and saw these ladies (and glad i had grabbed my camera

as i ran out the door.)

hello ladies... warm enough? if you need a stocking cap, i've made some to sell~

here's some shots of the goods i delivered to mama's.

know what this is? it's the crushed blackberries that i used as i 

started experimenting with the dying process. 

i realized very quickly that i didn't have the patience for all the hoopala that

dying with all natural plant materials required, so it was off to buy rit dye.

(there aren't any ready made good colors of dye though, so if you think producing 

these yummy colors was a piece of cake- think again. it was a steep learning curve.) : )

some of the wrung out fabric, ready to be hung to dry.

these cloths look really pretty on tables, under a vase of flowers, in a basket,

on your dresser... the possibilities are endless.

(and if you bring me a newborn baby to photograph you better know that

i will be swaddling them in one).

**************

*these hearts are what started it all. there just aren't a lot of great valentine's day

decorations to buy i don't think...i had this idea to make pretty hearts

for people to decorate with, or give as gifts.

a favorite blogger talked about giving someone a heart attack yesterday.

no,*not that kind of heart attack*. 

what she was suggesting was, this week leading up to valentine's day,

why not do some random acts of "heart work". 

like just knocking on a neighbor's door and surprising them

with a plate of warm brownies- made with love- from the heart.

or wouldn't one of these bags of glittered hearts work to 

"attack" someone with love this week?

i love the idea so much- just a simple way to say,

"you matter to me",  "i love you"

"how blessed am i to have you in my life",
"thanks for shoveling my driveway".

i'm going to try give a couple people heart attacks this week.

xox, beth

*all of the items above will be available for purchase next wed-sat.
feb.11th~feb.15th

at mama's happy at their independence location.