Crafty Mamma Alert!

I am so happy to be sewing and crafting again! I have been a VERY busy little bee, working away on my new brand Oh Sew Serendipitous. Are you following along on Facebook? If not here are some pictures of the goodies I have been working on:

Little Hipster Drool Scarves!

Kamika Wraps

A custom designed Kamika Wrap

And another custom design

A Kamika Wrap, with instructions, ready to be shipped!

Easy Wipe Vinyl Bibs

Do you like what you see? I would love your feedback! Leave a comment and tell me what you think!

My Creative Journey...A Getting to Know Me Post

Creativity....that is a really important word to me. It has played a roll in my life since I was a child. I can remember building dollhouses out of pizza boxes, creating a fort in the woods out of old milk crates, and countless hours spent drawing. From the time I could be trusted with a needle and thread my grandma had me sewing. We started with crudely designed teddy bears stuffed with dried beans, and moved on to more complicated things. In fact when my grandmother passed away when I was 26 it was her sewing machine, the very one I learned on, that I coveted for myself.

As a young adult I expressed myself through photography and mixed media art collage. I likes to push the boundaries of what made people comfortable by using art to discuss controversial topics. I was a fairly angry twenty something, I had a lot of demons in my closet that I hasn't dealt with yet and the drawing and sewing took a back seat. Eventually the party twenty something lifestyle took over and art and creativity disappeared from my life for a number of years. They were some of the bleakest years of my life.

One day I found myself 29 years old, facing my 30's and miserably unhappy. I cried all the time, I woke up feeling like the day ahead was a chore, there was no joy in anything I did and I was drinking way too much. On a whim I pulled out my grandmothers sewing machine and started sewing. I think it was a potholder. Or something basic and simple. I honestly don't remember but whatever it was it saved my sanity! From that moment on I was crafting all the time! I started sewing aprons, cloth napkins, children's plush animals and more. Then I got into jewelry and screen printing...honestly I tried any craft that inspired me. Which was a lot! When I crafted I was happy. My mind was calm.

From there spun my blog, to document this new path I had embarked on. But to my surprise....I found put I was pregnant one year later. I continued to craft but my blog slowly morphed into one that documented the ups and downs of my pregnancy and my thoughts on impending parenthood.

Now that I am a stay at home mom I do not have the time I once did to craft, or blog...but I can still be creative. I loved decorating my baby girls nursery, a made her a mobile that she just adores, i even sewed her a dress one time. But more often then not my creativity now comes out in the kitchen and my home. My home has never been more functional as I adjust, move, and reorganize things to fit the ever changing life of a young child. I may not have much time to play on my grammas sewing machine, but I wear her old Christmas apron as I bake holiday treats and teach myself how to cook nutritious family meals. I also sing. Constantly. Claire loves music and i make up all sorts of melodies and rhymes to make her smile. When i run out of ideas we fall back on the classics, there is lots of Raffi played in our house.

One day Claire will be old enough to craft with me, and i can teach her how to sew on her great-grandmothers sewing machine. But until then my creative joys are expressed through the joys of day to day motherhood, they are expresses through love. When you have a young child your whole life becomes a creative journey, one that ebbs and flows constantly. I'm just coasting the waves and enjoying the ride.

A Photo Tour of Claire's Nursery

This weeks edition of Sunday Styles: Things I Love is all about my baby Claire's nursery! Her room is cooler then mine, I just adore it! Her Daddy and I put it together in a mad panic rush of 48 hours prior to my un-planned c-section....and I think we did a pretty darn good job! What do you think?

Welcome to Claire's room! This here is the door to her nursery, Daddy brought this old fashioned tin print back from a business trip to New York City. The paper stars were bought from a fair trade co-operative and hand made by women in India.

The hat on the teddy bear and tutu on the pig were the first two things Daddy ever bought Claire, 

on her second day of life with us

Even little girls need a train set in their room!

A beautiful wooden stacking set from her cousin who lives in New York

Her crib! For now she sleeps inside a moses basket, for safety. But when she is big enough she will sleep in this cozy crib. Those are her buddies: a Bam Bambi I made her, an elephant, monkey, and teddy Bear from dear friends and the braided leaf piece from the oh so lovely Ms Katelyn of Peace, Love, and Leener.

A pillow I made for Claire inspired by Elsie of A Beautiful Mess

The pattern of her drapes and crib set, organic cotton, and natural dye's!

Storage Bins full of fun stuff and toys!

 Her funky Clock from Gramma that helps me time my feeds

A giant boquet of fake flowers that Daddy bought her so that she and I 

would always have flowers to look at

The chair I use for our late night nursing sessions, cozy, dim, and quiet with a warm blankie

And over looking this chair are "my laides" these belonged to my Grandma before she passed away and I like to think she looks down on us from them. 

PS: Don't forget to click here to vote for my blog on Top Baby Blogs! No sign up needed, just a simple click to vote! Thank you so very much xoxoxo

My Appologies

Dear Darling Readers,

To those of you who are not mom's, mommy bloggers, pregnant, or into baby stuff...I apologize. I do not want you to think that this blog will be going the way of boobies, diapers, and babies for ever and ever. It is just that right now my whole world revolves around this precious bundle of love and joy named Claire. I am slowly coming out of my post-birth trauma, getting to know Claire better, and setting up a solid nap/feed routine. The crafts and such will return, I am going through creative withdrawal! Along with Motherhood Monday's I will continue to post Thankful Thursday and Sunday Styles for you all to enjoy. I have some plans for crafty projects and starting next month may even be in a craft fair or two!

Thank you for all of your love, support and patience. I worked so hard to get this little blog to be what it is today, it is a baby of mine too! So to those of you tired of hearing about baby madness, I thank you for sticking around and supporting me. Every morning I wake up and read your comments and they honesty make my day! I love each and every one.

So on the note of returning the blog to "regular scheduled programing" here is a sneak peak of a craft project I plan to start working on this week:

And since it is Tuesday and all here is a Tuesday Tune for old times sake! Ironic that this is an apology post and this song has been stuck in my head all day long! Claire and I rocked out to it during our morning breastfeeding session:

Peace, love and pickles


Click below to vote for this blog on Top Baby Blogs! No sign up needed, just a simple click to vote! Thank you so very much xoxoxo

A Peak Inside My World....Photo Post

I thought it might be fun to do a photo heavy post, all based on a peak inside my little world, to help you all get to know me better:

This is me. Kami, aka Kamika

This is my husband, Ryan. We have been together 

for 13 years, married for 3

Yup 13 years. We were each others dates to Prom. 

That is us in the middle

I love tattoos. So far I have 5 with plans for more

We live in North Vancouver, BC, Canada and were 

married in our own backyard

We have two fat, lazy and loving cats. This is Spitz.  She is 13 years old and my best bud. She spoons with me every night

And this is Baby Kitty. His name was supposed to be Rafiki. We used to sing a song to him when he was a kitten. "Baby Kitty"  were the only words....and well it stuck and that was all he would answer to. He is kind of 'special'

Ryan and I love to throw house parties and they tend to get fairly sloppy and epic. There has been some good ones over the years

The first annual "Merry F'ng Ho Ho House Party"

My 29th"Pretty Woman" themed  birthday BLOWOUT....NOM! NOM! NOM!

Sex and the City Ladies Night a la Kamika. It was a dress up event, I was Samantha

 But all of that is about to change because we are expecting 

our first child this June

Proudly showing off my 26 week bump

So true. So true. Saw this while traveling in Bali

Now for some random fun facts about Ryan and I! 

First off we LOVE all things Japanese

 

I absolutely LOVE to take photos. I always have a camera in hand

We love to go camping, and I always insist we speak like pirates YAR! And fly our flag. TEAM YAR!

I love horses, but am too scared to ride them...

We love to travel. Last year we spent 2 magical months in Bali

Oh yah, and I am kinda obsessed with felt...

 

Crafty Preview...

A sneak peek at a new bunch of eco-felt owl brooches I am currently working on...

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These Are a Few of My Favorite Things...

This stunning necklace by the lovely Katelyn of Peace, Love and Leener. She has been on a real creative streak these days creating all sorts of lovely necklaces, like this fabric leaf one:

Speaking of necklaces I am super excited about this necklace I recently bought from Violet Bella, another FAB blogger/crafty chica I would highly reccomend! The sewing sheers I currently use were my grandmothers, I remember her teaching me how to cut fabric as a little girl with those scissors, the sound of the blades slicing through fabric as she taught me to sew....this necklace reminds me of those special memories.

As far as news in my crafty lil world, I am currently working on a line of eco-felt dolls! Cute rag tag, floppy limbed teddy bears in patchwork dresses! Here is hoping I can pull it off...I am working on one now and her name is Mable! Here is a weeee sneak peak:

This one is just a prototype that I am practicing on...I will be working on a slightly plumper body with a bean bag bum for the official launch! I loved the dangly arms, I can just picture my lil bug all sleepy and ready for bed with this teddy hanging from her hand. Mable was my grandmothers name and I am thinking each doll will have a cool retro "gramma name" like pearl, rose, daisy etc...

What are some of your current favorite things?

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