Pre-Spring Cleaning + Etsy Stuff/Art

I have been on a major possession-binge. A decluttering, cleaning, and organizing kick. We have too much crap and I'm ready for spring to get here so I can open the windows and really clean everything in the house!

But meanwhile, I have also been making a few new art pieces and I also have a sale going on at the shop. 

"Marie"

Variations on my original drawing...for sale in my shop!

A little drawing I did while waiting in the car of our cats as a metal band.

Check it out! ^_^

Busy busy, busy! What have you been up to? 

An Awesome Etsy Shop, A Weird Flea Market, and Bigfoot

These things pretty much don't have anything to do with each other, but I'm putting them all in this post because I can't wait to tell you about them!

First off, Husband and I are always trying find ways to improve our weekly grocery bill + be better environmentally. We have talked for a little while about using reusable snack bags in the kids' lunches. I was a little skeptical, because I thought that it might get messy or gross. Deciding to take the plunge, I went on Etsy and searched for "reusable snack bags". I found a lot of shops, but one stuck out to me for their prices and patterns: KBExquisites. I bought two to try them out and we loved them. Seriously. Our family loved them so much that we got three more. We use them everyday in the girls' lunches and sometimes in ours, too. These are so easy to use and clean. I have to mention that the shop's owner is absolutely sweet and great to deal with for transactions. If you are in the market for some of these, I highly, HIGHLY recommend her! We liked the chevron and polka dot patterns the best.

So this weekend we decided to leave town on a whim and found ourselves in the middle of nowhere in Oklahoma. We had a great time! Check out our new decor for our dining nook that we found at a little old flea market in a tiny town:

Don't be jealous.

Also somewhere near the Texas border (I think), we found this place:

We were the only customers there and we took that opportunity to ask the question, "Why Bigfoot?" Being fans of cryptozoology, we couldn't believe our luck in finding this place. They even had a near "life-sized" replica of Sasquatch himself, although we think that they used a wookie costume. So why Bigfoot? "Everyone here is Bigfoot crazy," was the answer. Also, everyone has seen him except the lady we were talking to about Mr. Foot. We were surprised, not knowing that Bigfoot was in Oklahoma, but she showed us this map, which I got a picture of:

So now you know. Bigfoot is also in Oklahoma. Husband didn't get to ask her the question he really wanted to ask (what she thought about the theory that Bigfoot is actually an alien), but we did hear a story about her seeing a picture of a ghost. These are the things that happen when we go out adventuring. It's pretty freaking awesome. =D

I hope everyone had a fun and adventuresome weekend as well!

Snow Day! - a pictorial essay

We had a winter storm, which I'm sure by northern standards was not that bad (so my husband says), but the upside of this is that the kids were out of school and Husband was out of work! Last night we played Settlers of Catan Seafarers and drank tea and hot chocolate while eating popcorn. Today we slept in and had a fun play day! 

Lulu Claus & the beginning of the ice + snow

The new hangout

Snow fun

The view from my workshop (ho ho ho)

Miss G made a huge heart that says "I LOVE MOM" <3

Our new Frosty Fern - it looks fake! So cool.

O Christmas Tree

I turned that into this!

We put up our tree and other decorations, too. Our house looks so bright and cheery! 

Also, I purchased this: Baby Deer Cookie Cutter and these: Pine Tree Cupcake Picks
I can't wait to use these for winter festivities! And how adorable would a woodland birthday party be in the future for one of the kids?! 

I hope everyone is staying warm! 

Willkommen, Bienvenue, Welcome!

Well hello there. I'm Annaliese, 1/3 of the infamous (at least to us) Midwest Craft Alliance.

I'm a human. You know, doing stuff here and there. I have two not-so-little-anymore daughters, one perfect husband, and three weirdo cats. I wish I could tell you I also have a hedgehog and a bat, but I've been told that three cats are enough pets in the house. Le sigh.

Humans

Kitties

I love to draw, paint, and do art in general, as well as write and create crafty things. I also enjoy music, which is good because my husband is a musician. I actually enjoy taking care of our home and making it nice. I also actually enjoy making our kids' school lunches. I told the kids that if anyone says anything about their black cat shaped sandwiches or Miffy rice balls, they can just say their mom is an artist, "It's cool." Our family does a lot of awesome stuff like traveling, community events, hiking, etc etc etc (the list goes on), so that should be a preemptive answer to anyone who wants to ask, "What do you all do?" when I tell you: We don't have a television.

My husband is an amazing chef (whether he'll admit it or not) and we always eat dinner as a family, which we think is really important.

I am really thrilled to be doing a blog with Eryn and Becky. These are two grade-A, talented ladies who I have known for a long time and have been a great support to me throughout the years!

Like my cohorts, I have an Etsy shop and sell the various things I make. It's quite fun! Soon I will be selling prints of my artwork and that makes me very excited. I like the pieces I create. They make me happy and I hope they make other people smile at least a little. I also make play food with the help of my minions -- er, I mean children. We always have to make extra for their own play kitchen.

I'm also on the various social media sites; take a look if you would like:
facebook
etsy
pinterest