grand opening tomorrow!

The big day is tomorrow! Im soo excited and nervous at the same time. i have a drawing, HC$ auctions,and great collabs. I hope it goes well!

www.hyenacart.com/jodysdesigns

save the date! May 1st is coming!

HAve you marked your calendar? May 1st is this coming Saturday, and its my grand opening! Ive started putting previews up already. i cant contain myself. i put up some new items, exclusive one of a kind items, and a few collabs. i have a few more items to put up through out the week. Theres more collabs, some Auctions and drawings as well. So far everything is going smoothly, except for the butterflies in my tummy! You would think, having been a wahm for over 2 yrs now, that i would be used to stockings and the hype. But this is my first adventure out on my own, with out the support of a congo. I know ill have friends there to support me, but its the fresh faces im nervous about! I try to be original and new, and i hope everyone gets to see that. I pray that this gets me the exposure ive been craving, and maybe some new opportunities!! Anyway, wish me luck!

happy Earth Day!

How did you celebrate Earth day? id like to think everyone went out and planted a tree, or played in their garden.. but i know thats not always possible. Going green is an everyday thing, though. there are many ways to help our planet, and support our stay at home moms, by changing things in your daily life. heres a few i can think of off hand:
Switch to Unpaper! My family made the switch a few months ago. I decided to cut up my husbands old Tshirts and serge two layers together to make decent sized towels for cleanups. I use these towels in the kitchen, for everything, and i keep some in the bathroom for clean ups in there as well. By doing this i have saved money, saved waste in our landfills, and maybe a tree or two.
Switch to cloth pads! I have not made this switch yet, but its spreading like wildfire amoung many of my peers. There are many wahms out there now that sew cloth menstral pads out of natural fibers that are gorgeous! Ive seen pads made into works of art using designer fabrics, and soft fabrics. a few whams i would recommend are
www.hyenacart.com/mothermoonpads
www.hyenacart.com/pinklemonade
Switch to cloth lunch baggies! Your childs lunch can be fun and fashionable, as well as cutting back on the amount of plastic we put into our landfills. Sandwich sized baggies are sewn from designer fabrics, and are reusable everyday! you can get them made in prints that your child will love, and theyre not that expensive! a few whams i would recommend are
www.hyenacart.com/mybeautifulgirl
www.hyenacart.com/joyfulearth
Use cloth diapers & wipes! Obviously im a huge advocate on cloth diapers. i made the switch with my daughter and never turned back. this alone has saved me hundreds of dollars. If you choose to line dry the diapers, thats even better! you save energy costs! No more spending $40 for a box of diapers that lasts 2 or 3 months. Starting up with cloth does cost money, but you can turn around and resell the diapers later, getting back about half of what you paid. You can also use cloth wipes, which are easy to make yourself ( same as my unpaper towels). Options for cloth diapering are endless, but heres a few of my favs
www.hyenacart.com/heartlanddreams
www.hyenacart.com/piddlepoddles

These are just a few things i can think of off hand. As always i try to support handmade, and my fellow stay at home moms. But our planet comes first! changing just the little things makes a difference. take shorter showers, car pool, use greener cleaning products.. im sure youve heard them all. So why not try going green, and supporting handmade at the same time?
for more greener items, go to www.hyenacart.com

Pin Wheel treats

last week i made an amazing blueberry pie. When i do a blueberry pie, i do the top crust in a lattice/basket weave type layer. so there tends to be left over pie dough. what do you do with the left over? well, i make pinwheels. my husband has a huge weakness for these little cinnamon goodies, and my kids cant stop eatting them. they may not come out perfectly shaped every time, but they taste awesome!

Pin wheel treats

Ingredient:

left over pie dough

butter

cinn/sugar mix

roll out your pie dough til its almost the same thickness as you would do for making an actual pie. you will want to do this in small portions so it doesnt take over your whole counter. smother the dough with melted butter, then pour on cinn/sugar mix. dont sprinkle the mix, you actually want to pour it on and cover every exposed area with it. roll dough, with fingers, to form a long tube. cut off the ends and place on cookie sheet, continue to cut off spirals. about 1/2 inch thick. baste tops of spirals with melted butter, and a dusting of cinn/sugar. cook at 425 degrees for about 10 mins, or until golden brown.

be warned, these pinwheels might unform, and extra sugar might candy up. but it doesnt affect the taste of them at all!! enjoy!

Sweetpea boutique collab

The first of several collabs for my grandopening, is complete! This collab was done with Maggie, of Sweetpea Boutique. Maggie embellished a 3T tshirt with felt. The colors of the leaves of the tree, match the colors in the skirt perfectly! I crocheted a ruffled bottom skirt, made for a child that is already potty trained. the skirt has an elastic waist line so that the toddler can easily pull up to put on and easy to take off, if they dress themselves, or for the quick potty visit. The yarn is dyed by Anticipation. this set is made for a 2T/3T child.

for more items done by SweetPea Boutique, visit her at:

www.hyenacart.com/sweetpeaboutique

www.hyenacart.com/bittyfluff

Love Abounds!

So i finally won some goodies on Love Abounds Manic Monday giveaway, on Facebook. Love Abounds is run by a fantastic wahm, katherine, who comes up with the most decadent and delicious treats. She bakes cookies, candies and shortbreads, and comes up with spice combos, sugars, and teas! There is nothing this woman can not conquer! She once mentioned she even made a cookie with bacon in the recipe! Pure genius!

Anyway, so if you fan her facebook fan page ( just type in Love Abounds and you will find her), you will see her updates daily. On Mondays she does ffs giveaways to her fans. the first person to post under her post, gets whatever prize she has mentioned. now, if youre smart you just post the second you see she did, even if you didnt read the description.. no matter what you are sure to win something wonderful. I did this, last monday. To my surprise, i won her shortbread. i screamed and smiled and cheered.. and waited every day for the mail to come. Well, today it came.

Vanilla bean shortbread with sea salt caramel and beligian chocolate. OMG! one bite of this is not enough. My husband, who was hovering as i cut the first slice, begged for a bite. After devouring his first slice, he proceeded to beg for more! LOL! a little while later, after several trips back into the kitchen to sneak a piece.. i finnished it. i couldnt help it, i swear. it called to me.

I must recommend you try it! fan her page, got to her HC or Etsy shop. you wont be disappointed. She has definatly made my husband and i addicts!

Love Abounds:

Hyenacart: www.hyenacart.com/loveabounds

Etsy: www.etsy.com/shop/loveabounds

Dandelion Dreams

My favorite part of spring is when my bulbs start to bloom. the 90 degree weather we had this week, pushed my daffodils right up and open! I have about 8 different breeds of daffodils, spread around my yard. It is by far one of my favorite flowers, because its the first to greet us in the spring. Daffodils bring sunshine and hope, after the cold and long winters we have in NE.

other plants and bushes are already blossoming. my forsithia is already in bloom, creating a vibrant yellow hedge in my front yard. Ive spotted a few Magnolias and weeping cherry trees blooming, as well as some rhodadendons. Next will be the tulips! I have about a dozen different colors and breeds of that bulb as well. Ive noticed my monster bee balm survived. lastyear i pulled a mess of it out and transplanted throughout my yard. this particular bee balm gets to be about 3 feet or more in height. it blooms gigantic red explosions, that can be seen in my neighbors yard!lol! i think im going to experiment more with bee balm, and venture into the different pinks they come in as well.

Bleeding hearts also have a small place in my heart. i have one plant in particular, that was originally planted by my grandfather at his cabin in Coventry. alot of good memories at that place, and the bleeding heart plant was something that always called to me in his garden. My mother took a piece, years before he passed, and planted it at the house i grew up in. When my parents split, and they sold the house, my mother then gave me that particular plant. The little snippet she had taken a long time ago, birthed a 2 foot wide beauty. Now i have the gigantic reminder of my youth with my grandfather, running through his gardens chasing bubbles and dandelions..

Ham & pasta salad

so you just had a huge Easter ham for dinner.. after everyone has taken their doggy bag, youre still left with leftovers! so now is the time to get creative. You can do omelettes, scalloped ham and potatoes.. endless options. I decided to do a quick salad today! Nice and light, good for lunch or dinner. and the kids love it!

Ham & Pasta Salad

2 cps diced ham

1/2 large cucumber

1 carrot shredded

diced onion ( to taste)

1/2 cp italian dressing

pasta

cook the pasta first. while thats cooking dice up the ham, shred the carrot and cut up the cucumber. throw it in a bowl. drain pasta, throw that in the bowl. then smother with dressing. i like to use Good Seasons italian dressing, made with Basalmic Vinegar.. very yummy!! enjoy :)

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter! so far this morning we woke to chocolate bunnies, and an easter egg hunt! while the kids were hunting for their eggs, they came across a bunny hutch that mysteriously apeared lastnight! In this hutch are 2 bunnies, Scrapper and Nibbles. Cody screamed " look momma! bunnies! the Easter bunny brought us bunnies!"

the smile on my kids faces made my Easter complete.

so we are off to enjoy an easter ham, and more goodies! Hope you all have a great day!