Dear friends,

I am sad to report to some bad news. I thought that telling of my pregnancy at three months would be the perfect timing, but unfortunately, I began to miscarry Friday night. With heavy hearts we are waiting for my body to complete the miscarriage on it's own, and if it does not I will go in for surgery next week.

Despite our broken hearts, I have to say that God has answered many prayers since this ordeal began early last weekend. I have no doubt that He is in control and I feel His peace in my life as my family and I walk through this together.

I'm sorry for the bad news, and I thank you in advance for your prayers.

Love, Amanda

This is rare:

It's a snow day.

The boys are watching the Food Network and I'm thinking about sushi.

Thank you Neutrogena!

This lotion really works. Whew. Relief. Finally.

You can get a $2 off coupon here.

Remodeling

Since we learned out family will be growing, I pressed Seth into changing some things in the playroom/studio and kitchen. The chaos is sickening and I'm constantly wondering if this really was my idea, or some crazy demented alter ego me. But we've made some progress, so the glow at the end of the tunnel is finally showing a faint glimmering hope of actual light.

-Before-

This is the only picture I could find to show the awful blue and red in the kitchen and the white wall cabinets and manila colored fridge and the horrible, rusty exhaust fan over the stove. But you get the gist...

-Now-

New Fridge, new exhaust/microwave, new paint color and new shelves. Oh, and we have rearranged the bottom cabinets to give us more cooking space.
Now, obviously this is NOT a finished project. I just put the dishes up there so that we could have some blessed room at the table for once, but they will all have to come down again because the wall needs to be patched and the paint job is far from over.
Stage two: finish the walls, all the way to the laundry area, and add the white subway-tile back splash (yay!)
Stage three: Re-do the floor, re-finish the bottom cabinets, get a new counter-top, and build a pantry on the far wall.

Oh, and we added a blackboard on the other wall by the stairs.
(reminder to myself: finish the stair trim...)

It's a wrap...

I really love the idea of dresses that can be turned into a bunch of different styles. And I'm wondering if this one would be good for a growing belly...

This one has more than a dozen ways to wear it. From nataJane.

Secret Santa

In the effort of continuing to post regularly, I'm afraid I'll need to backtrack to Christmas.


Over the holidays, my Etsy Metal Team did a Secret Santa jewelry swap. I sent this Tomato Slice Necklace to Nina Gibson,
and I received these three lovely, lovely rings from Colleen Baran.
What fun.

So sorry I've been MIA

I know, I know, I deserve some sort of blogging punishment for my bad blogging etiquette. Perhaps my punishment is that I have no readers anymore.
The truth is that my cute medium sized family of five will be a larger family of six in about six months.
Everybody is very excited, including me, but it seems that I've spent most of the last three months ill, or sleeping.
We have also been remodeling the house so I stayed with my mom for several days, and have been secluding myself away in my room (sans computer) to escape the mess and fumes.

Also, my birthday is this week, and for some reason it's not making me feel particularly blogative. Perhaps it's the hormones...

Jewelry Memories

The Etsy Metal Blog Carnival question this month is "What is your best jewelry memory?"

This is a hard one for me because I have so many! But my best ones all revolve around people that I love (and who love me) giving me a piece of jewelry to mark a special occasion. My parents, who gave me a sterling silver key necklace when I turned 16 and a pearl and diamond one when I turned 18. The plain white gold band that my husband slipped on my finger when I said "I do" and that within a year, slipped right off my finger again to be lost forever because it was two sizes too big. And then the various handmade pieces my husband has bought for me, my silver dime bracelet and necklace, my topaz ring...and the most recent, a new wedding band - from the same man - with diamonds all the way around.

The pieces of jewelry that mark the stages of my life are like the stones that the ancients would pile up to be a witness of important and wonderful events in their journey. They help me remember.

Read about other team member's favorite jewelry memory here:
Andes Cruz Designs
Danielle Miller
Sara Westermark
_________________

Handmade in the Arcade

Christmas shopping, Hooray!

This Saturday (December 5th) I'll be at Handmade in the Arcade in Downtown Nashville from 1pm until 9pm. Join me for fantastic shopping and great art in all of the surrounding galleries. Click HERE for more info and a list of vendors.
Oh, and my name is in the paper. ;) here.

Etsy's Front Page

I was on the front page at 2am this morning. Not a great time to get seen...but it still feels good! =)

New Old Chairs

My husband found two old, broken rattan chairs on the street and brought them home. I was mad (because we don't need any more junk!) until I realized that the frames were in fabulous condition. So, I stripped off the rattan and wove new seats and backs out of jute upholstery webbing. Voila! New chairs!