mamaroots

scamp updates

Just wanted to share a little bit of the progress on decking out the Scamp.  Though I love the original vintage-esque interior of the scamp and parts of it I am retaining like the tweed cushions and avacado green ice box but I need some color pops so I have added:

handmade rug

vintage canister for marshmallows

vintage inspired knobs and fabric for curtains

granny afghan

of course some red and white gnome salt and pepper shakers

Just a few fun little additions.  This weekend it will be time to work on her exterior with buffing and waxing the fiberglass exterior- wax on wax off- hopefully it will be that zen!  

deer me

Deer me!  It is that time again from some Herbal Roots love and give-away.  Kristine did a wonderful job with oats last month and she has a wonderful issue dedicated to Basil for August- seriously a fresh basil, tomatoe and moz salad rules the summer for me!

Leave a comment here between now and Wed for a chance to win the August issue of Herbal Rootz Zine- a wonderful resource for getting your kiddos out in nature and learing about plant medicine all around you!

Bonus entry points for follow me on 

facebook

twitter

Herbal Roots Zine on Facebook

Good luck, and while you are at it- check out my wooden deer giveaway at Herbal Roots Zine!  Enjoy my friends!

**Congrats to lucky #14- Ashley the August issue has been e-mailed to you- enjoy!

roots

So sorry my friends for a bit of an absence from blogs and from shop updates.  Chickens, Scamps, and chasing after my boys has kept me running.  I am have also been exploring roots alot this summer and am looking forward to some adventures that should help me explore my roots some more.

I have 2 cameras with charged batteries and empty memory cards just calling!  My toymaking hands have enjoyed just a bit of a break as well!  

Taking some time to also order supplies for the upcoming holiday season too.  I waver back and forth on branding, I keep my main logo but have incorporated a few different elements with it.  But it really felt like it was time to just simplify and bring it down to my logo and one element- an unending love of mason jars.

I am deeply rooted in an ancestory of farming, and mason jars just abound.  They are so much a part of my life even now, not being on a farm.  As I type there is one mason I am sipping H2O out of.  So it seemed like the best element to bring in.  So new business cards are ordered with a little mason graphic on the back where I like to write each customer a little note of thanks, and all the muslin bags will also have a mason jar front with the normal stamping on the back.

Thanks for supporting, watching, and helping me keep my mason jar half full!  Stay tuned as I share my adventures exploring roots.  I will be back in this space with some pics and stories and lots of ideas ready to be made into toys next week.

Till then enjoy a chance to win a Cuppow on me, I have really enjoyed using my wide-mouth Cuppow for a few months.  It is my trusty companion every morning on the way to work.  They just came out with the narrow size and I got one for each of the fellas and one more to give-away to one of you.

Leave a comment between now and Sunday at midnight.  Tell me your favorite thing to drink out of your mason!  Good luck and see you soon!

**Congrats to Kathleen- lucky #7 check your e-mail from me- Thanks!

this "chicken" moment

{this moment} - A Friday ritual via Soulemama that I was keen on doing this week- a simple sweet moment from the past week.

under the sea

Maybe it is our need to at least read about creatures under the sea to help us try and stay hydrated. Everything here in our little corner of the midwest is so very parched.  Rain, we need it like crazy!  So a plethor of books shared by some friends gave a moments inspiration for an outside dessert picnic dreaming about the wet sea!

Pairing up a classic book on animals with a new superb picture book by the author of Wonder Bear, Tao Nyeu, we got to take a dive with our imaginations under the sea to this sweet and simple tale of two friends.  There is knitting, cake, dreams, and fortune cookies, what is not to like?

So we asked ourselves questions we would like to know more about with octopus and squid, and decided to do some more research.  Though we happily embrace our little public school for the boys, it is moments like these that I am so happy for.  Sitting on a quilt, eating some sweets, reading a book and learning a little at a time- hybrid indeed!

So check out this new book, it is pretty sweet!  We are off to answer some questions about their anatomy and figure exactly why they have those suckers on their tentacles!  I started a little Pinterest board in case you want to join us on this little adventure.  

Crafty- seriously, the yarn octopus?  It was just one of my favorite toys at my grandmas house!  It was bright turquoise blue and much loved!  I think Martha can help me out with a modern one!

free to be

Sometimes the rock hard ground and triple digit temps leave you free to be and chill on Independence Day. As the hubby did a morning 100 mile ride at the temps hit 100 the boys and I hit the antique mall. Just a few little decorative addition to July 4th was all we needed.  An old piece of a quilt and what I think might be a swanky swig?  How do you know for sure?  I feel some research coming on!

Not much from the yard to add to the jar except a couple of fern fronds and some coneflower- everything else is bone daddy dry!

Jasper and I made a no-bake desert, a frozen lemonade pie.  The fresh berries were a must and though I was not as crazy about it at first, it was not really set up yet, it has been a tasty little treat at night as we are nearing hopefully our last day of extreme heat before the cold front cools it back down to at least the 90's!  

Stay cool and eat some pie- how about you do you have any swanky swigs? I think they are adorable!

sparkle

Happy 4th everyone- much too dry here to do any fireworks at the folks place so we will be biking downtown tonight for our village show.  Hope you have an enjoyable day to work in a little crafting too!  I made this little sparkle gnome for the 4th- my knitting skills have evolved a bit to start making little gnome hats!  I know a red and white stripe would have been more fitting but I was pretty pleased with the result.

The hat pattern comes from here, and I just drew some simple stars, wood burnt around, and then added a wash of blue paint.  He should add some sparkle to our holiday even if we can't burn sparklers ourselves!

Enjoy and have a great holiday.

meet Colene

I would like to formally introduce you to Colene.  She is the newest member of our household.  She was born in 1983, is all of 13 feet long, 900 lbs, and we are so happy she is with us!  As you may remember I have come to know that I am really not much or a tent camper.  It is a realization that has come to be the past couple of years.  

Especially with some of the fall music fest we attend, I joked at my hubby that if he wanted me to join more often we should get a small, simple, retro-esque camper.  So for a couple of years we drool over these cuties, and stalk the local ebay and craigslist options.  That was when she popped up.  Not only was she in pretty good shape for being 30 years old, she was in our state.  Most of the Scamps we were seeing were all over.  Without having to take a big road trip singing Woody Guthrie songs, this seemed perfect.

We were super stealth with our Ebay moves setting our odd price point in the last seconds of the auction and we got her!  She hails from wine country of our state and was previously owned by a sweet 80 year old lady for which she is aptly named.  

Though we have tested out her sleeping arrangements in the yard when we first got her, she had her maiden voyage this past weekend and did great!  What I love about Colene, let me count the ways:

1-Scamp is USA made, we can still get all the parts we need

2- She required no upgrade in vehicles, she can be towed with a car

3- She is streamlined and simple

4- She seems to grab attention!

I think it is because we have a small house, my hubby and already sleep in a small full size bed, and we are all under 5"10 so our shortness is an advantage!  There is no bathroom to clean-up- yuck, but electric, a hand pump water sink, propane stove, and icebox.  

I am already gathering together some slight decor changes starting with new curtains!  So it will be a fun evolution indeed that I hope you don't mind if I share with you here.  

So to celebrate my independece from tent camping, just a sweet little journal as you hit the road this summer- one of my classic moleskine pocket journals- Colene inspired.  Just leave a comment between now and Sat at midnight for a chance to win!

I have more pictures here and will enjoy adding more during her evolution, and for those who would like to see more inspiration, check out this vintage Scamp re-do, and of course some Pinterest eye candy too!  It certainly has made for all of us to be happy campers!

Enjoy your 4th- good luck with the give-away!  

Happy July

Wishing you and yours all the best picnics and adventures July will hold!  I look forward to sharing ours with you soon.  Keep cool- we are still hoovering around 100 degrees all week long!  We are headed to some water picnics to keep cool and drench ourselves with fruit and spring fed waters.  Have a good Sunday!