The Cloverfield

Good Afternoon! It's a beautiful day to walk in a field of clover. But as I don't have any beautiful patches of clover in my little yard, I'm going to hop on over to The Cloverfield. Thank you to my four lovely commenters for participating in my first give-away!!!

Our lucky winner is.....Joyce, from A Perfect Beginning!!! I used my random name selector (selected out of a hat by my oldest son-he's 3). Congratulations! You can email your contact info to me at ecardiff@msn.com, and the lovely Prosper Bracelet will be lovingly mailed to you.

Prosper Bracelet

I was able to do an email interview with Lesli, one of the partners of The Cloverfield. Leslie and Erin's shop can be found on Etsy at the following address link: http://www.etsy.com/shop/thecloverfield. When on Etsy, under sellers, type "thecloverfield" to get to their shop.

Emily - What led you to developing The Cloverfield?

Lesli - As stay-at-home moms, my sister and I were always searching for some sort of creative outlet; something to still feel like a person and not just "mom." We tried knitting, metalworking, scrapbooking, etc. Then I started making the hairpins, and suggested she make some as well, but she wanted to make jewelry instead, so that is how our shop came about. Etsy is a great website for handmade items so we opened The Cloverfield a couple months ago.

Poppies Hairpins

Emily - How did you choose the name The Cloverfield?
Lesli - We grew up on a farm surrounded by lots of nature. Our dad and grandfathers were farmers and we had corn, soybeans, pumpkins, and a field of alfalfa right next to the house. We both live in town now, but our days surrounded by the country inspire a lot of our work. Before we opened the shop, I had a set of hairpins that was mostly shades of green, and my mom suggested the name "cloverfield" for the set. A few weeks later, Erin and I decided that would actually be a great name for the shop instead!

Cabernet Hairpins

Emily - You are a stellar photographer! I've enjoyed the picture shoots you've done for me after the birth of each of my children. How do you go about photographing your products?

Lesli - To be honest, I'd rather photograph a child than a still object with no personality, but good photography is key in showcasing your objects. Some of the same rules still apply - get up close to your subject and have an interesting background! We've used scrapbook paper, nature, fabric, lids of boxes, anything we can find to make for a nice canvas. We try to take a variety of clear shots so that people really know what they are getting. Using the macro setting on the camera really helps as well because you can get very clear close-up shots.

Blue Iris Locket Necklace

Emily - I'd love to start an Etsy shop when I have more time to devote to it. You took the plunge! Are you satisfied with how it's going so far? How do you manage your time as far as creating your products?
Lesli - This was kind of an imipluse decision. We didn't put a ton of thought into it, but if we had, maybe we never would have done it! Neither of us expected to make a fortune of our little business, but it's more about sharing our work with the world and friends and having the reward of people liking it. Sales are steady, but a little slow, and that is to be expected when so manyu people are struggling right now. It's difficult to get any shop off the ground on Etsy, as there is so much competition. But overall I think we are doing great! We both have 16-month-olds, so having time to create new work is always a challenge. I tend to work for two days creating a bunch of stuff and then not do anything for a month. Erin does a lot of stuff made to order.

Lesli, thank you so much for taking the time to chat with me about your store. And thanks to both Lesli and Erin for a job well done in creating your beautiful Etsy shop, The Cloverfield!

Good Luck to The Cloverfield, and if I may be so bold and cliche,

"Live long, and prosper."

Prosper Earrings

A Prosperous Spring

Happy Monday!

It's Spring, and I'm feeling frisky. I just went for a run and drank a big tall glass of water; my body and brain are both wanting a fresh start as far as health and living in the moment.

What a pretty little bracelet! It's from The Cloverfield, a new Etsy shop that's becoming one of my favorites. I'm the owner of some of their sweet hairpins, that look so pretty nestled in my hair. Irene and Grace would love this shop!

The Cloverfield has darling vintage style jewelry, handmade by two beautiful lasses named Erin and Lesli. My goal was to interview these two beauties, but my ADD has gotten the better of me once again! So I'm posting this bracelet first and hope to do the interview second.

First Give-Away!

Seeing as how this is my first free give-away, please leave a comment and I'll use the random selector to pick the lucky winner for the Prosper Bracelet. You have until Tuesday midnight, and I'll announce the winner on Wednesday morning.

Good luck!

Actually, I will close the count on Wednesday morning, 9:00 am Central time and post results by 12 Noon. Tell your friends!

St. Pat's

My wee leprechaun - he's fast...he's a bit mischievous...

he's a stair climber. Top of the morning! I hope you've started your day with green pancakes, a cup of Irish coffee (plus or minus the strong stuff! Mine was minus...), and with a little bit luck, maybe some sunshine!

I forgot to make the green pancakes, but my friend gave me a splendid idea for showing that some little leprechauns visited my house. I touch of green dye in the bathroom basin; knocking over a couple of little things (as they are so mischievous!!), and a bit of gold glitter sprinkled somewhere (messy yes, but fun, absolutely). If you have some chocolate gold coins, that's even better!

I'm about to put my cornbeef in the crockpot. My first time making it, so wish me luck!

Speaking of luck, please come by again this week for my first give-away from The Cloverfield (can be found on Etsy.com).

Happy Birthday to my dear pve!
I hope you have a fab day with lots of happiness and maybe a bit of Guinness!!!

Cookies

I'm wrapped up in the selling of our home and dreaming of new abodes.

There are so many distractions, but I got some friendly advice from a wonderful blogging friend, so I'm sitting down to write about the chaos and the freshly baked goodness that's coming of it all!

I love this book, "Cookies: Bite-Size Life Lessons" by Amy Krouse Rosenthal. It has wonderful little lessons for children; it's also a good reminder for adults.

So I decided to bake up some goodness and think of other people. There is a homeless shelter in my town. My church group just had a "Princess Party" fund raiser to raise money for the women and children's portion. pve design created some beautiful princess illustrations for the event, which I put on hanging plaques as a gift to each little princess. Patricia from pve decided to donate her commission to the shelter. This woman keeps giving! I thought it would be nice to deliver the money and include some cookies and one of her illustrations attached to a plaque.

Here's the plaque hanging on one of pve's other designs. I love her work!!!
Deliveries to those in need help us reach outside of ourselves. My children helped me with the delivery.

I hope to make more regular entries. I'd like to do a give-away highlighting my friends' work on Etsy, The Cloverfield. Beautiful handmade jewelry! Look for this next week...

Until then, hope for the best, and remember to find joy in the raindrops of March!

Mr. Mackintosh

Simple pleasures.
Simple peace.

Sunlit windows.

Soft retreat.

It's nothing glamorous - just an old table and chairs.

But I love it when I can find some pretty tulips to dress it all up.

Charles Rennie Mackintosh was a Scottish artist and designer. I have family in Wales, who are lucky enough to live in a house that was designed by him. It sports a beautiful window with a stained glass flower looking out over their staircase. Oh, his work is magnificent. My cousins gave me a dainty metal vase with a Mackintosh design, which I love to place sweet flowers.

It brings joy and a moment of calm to the day!

Calm

The calm before the storm is being called to my mind. I received a sweet card in the mail today from a lovely woman named Patricia of pve design. It really made my evening, as the card was all about keeping calm and carrying on! With a child who has been sick for a month, and now we're looking to move to a different house...whoo...I need some calm!

Many who practice Lent give something up in order to turn their focus towards Christ and God during this holy period of 40 days. Yes, I'm looking to abstain from a favorite dairy product known as OBERWEIS (mint chip to be specific). I'm also hoping to turn my thoughts and attitude towards the calm. Maybe I'll let go of all the "I have to's" and the "I want to's" and focus on the things that really matter to moi: family, faith, and how the lack of frozen dairy products brings me closer to the Lord!

Happy Fat Tuesday, and may the "calm" be with you.

Little Things

Sometimes it's the little things that will push us over the edge or, on the flip side, make our days. For instance, after a "grueling" day of laundry, bottles, diapers, arts and crafts, errands, oh etc., my dear husband walked into the door, after his day of grading papers and teaching science to pre-adolescents. The first words that came out of his mouth were not, "Hi honey," or "Come here and give me a kiss!" No, they were "It smells like hot dogs in here."

I just sighed, and said, "It's macaroni and cheese, dear." Oh Irene...Oh dear Grace... what would you do in this situation? You'd probably pause, adjust your hair, and go up and give that sweet endearing man a kiss. And then pour yourselves a Manhattan. Atta' girls.

You have to love the little things. I was lucky enough to make macaroni and cheese for my wee ones. It was Annie's! And I love it that my dear husband appreciates my cooking, even if it smells like hot dogs every once in a while.

People with Beards

Beards take time; beards take devotion. Abraham Lincoln, John Muir, and a rather dashing man I like to call my husband: they have at least one great common bond - a love of beards. Oh yes, beards take time for some. My dear husband likes to spend a winter growing and cultivating his. He's striving for one like John Muir, Walt Whitman, or Samuel Beam, the singer from Iron and Wine.

I like beards to a degree - they recall a simpler time; the frontier. I, on the other hand, take out my looking glass and tweezers searching the map of my face to be sure I'm as far away as possible on that frontier!!! I so miss going to the salon and having them wax my worries away.

Oh well, there's always the circus.


Photo of John Muir - a wonderful man.


Photo of my man - a wonderful man.

Simply Music

"Exploring Music with Bill McGlaughlin" on a local Chicago radio station, WFMT, is a wonderful place to learn an listen to beautiful Classical music. Bill's voice is soothing and his commentary on various types of Classical music are thought provoking and inspiring. He plays his own piano to help illustrate the music he is studying. Very cool.

You can find his programming on www.wfmt.com, under "Programs." Take a moment to listen to the simple beauty of this radio program.

Simple Treats

The cake is in the oven, a day late. As far as going to bed early last night...well, 10:30 pm was the bewitching hour! Like I said...baby steps. And I always try and remember Murphy's Law.



Simplicity could easily be at our fingertips. It's abstaining from the extras that we think are so necessary and important. Yes, we have to fulfill our responsibilities. But it's filtering the responsibilities that are a need and not a want. Oh, it's a hard task. And here I am blogging away!


I can't wait to try a slice of this delicious Meyer Lemon Rosemary Cake. Thank you Jenn! I plan on making the red wine chocolate cake by the end of the week.


In the meantime, I know a few people who love cake. Think outside the box; think of others. There's a neighbor or two who could use a slice!

Simply February

Ah, it's the 1st of February! I love February. Although upon waking up this morning, I knew my 2nd post wouldn't be focused soley on love...I must simplify! I know, and why did I add a blog to my list of to-dos? Is it because I love the mania of it all???

I've never been one to journal. But I thought this would be a type of homework for myself. So my first assignment for the month is to simplify. And if you're up for the challenge, please join me in this quest!

1) I am going to go to bed at 8:00 pm tonight (unless my baby is crying and needs to be fed!).

2) I am only going to check my email twice today...uh, this is going to be hard!

3) I am going to make a Meyer Lemon Rosemary Cake (see the recipe from In The Yellow House)

4) I am going to focus on my family and enjoy a nice meal and a yummy cake with them (and probably play Barbies and Dinasours who hang out with Thomas The Tank Engine - it's a busy world)

Good luck, and live simply (baby steps).

Irene and Grace Debut

Irene and Grace. Hope, simplicity, love, and laughter. Four things I constantly strive for in this complicated little world.

Irene and Grace were two very special people in my life. One I knew well; one I never met. My two grandmothers.

Irene was a World War II war bride from Cardiff, Wales and traveled the Atlantic Ocean to live with my strikingly handsome grandfather in Lebo, KS. She was a grand lass. Her Welsh accent and tender ways are something I love to remember.

Grace was a woman with a great sense of humor, she was a hard worker, and a survivor in the sense of taking things as they came. She married my grandfather during the end of The Great Depression. My mother remembers Grace sitting at the kitchen table, smoking a cigarette, and talking for hours. You could talk with Grace. It's something I never got to do as she died before I was born, but I occasionally find myself consulting her opinion in my thoughts.

I chose the title name "Irene and Grace" because they lived with hope. They lived simply. They loved. And they sure as heck laughed. I'd like to take the time and write about these themes.

I'd like to thank Patricia van Essche of "pve design" for urging me and acting as a mentor in the blogging world!