1000 hearts!

i'm so excited because i just checked the hearts situation in my etsy shop, and i'm at 1000 now!

2009 was awesome for 'maoiliosa', and i can't wait to see what 2010 has in store for me!

thank you to all of you who have supported my little business venture over the past two years - i am so grateful!

( and happy holidays, by the way ;) )

♥,
melissa

"snow" day

it actually snowed here on friday! i know you're thinking: "snow? in TEXAS?! melissa is a liar!" but no! now, of course, none of it actually stuck to the ground and accumulated, but we did get a brief flurry of honest-to-goodness snow!

sadly, this is the best picture i could get of it:

yeah, like 5 white specks :p. the camera didn't really pick up on the flakes well :(.

but guess who came out to see the strange event...

pete! here he is on our driveway, and you can see a few flecks of snow in the air.

so cute. we started leaving some worms outside for him every few days (extras from what we feed our leopard geckos), and he loves them so much that he hangs out around our house all the time now with his lady friend :).

i wish it snowed here in central texas more often. we get a little bit of it every 5 years or so, but mostly in the winter we just get ice. i'm originally from ohio, and haven't seen bunches of snow in person since i was really little, and i miss it!

♥,

melissa

ginger, the cutest dog ever

squee! i love my dog! ♥ we couldn't even make the bed without her burrying herself in the freshly clean and warm sheets to be super cute :).

♥,

melissa

i love odd jobs

i was commissioned earlier this week to make asian-themed centerpieces for a party that is happening tomorrow evening. i earned a quick chunk of cash and got to use my creativity, so it's all good :). here's how they turned out:




and as part of that, i was asked to make 60 of my washi fortune cookies!



odd jobs are great, but i also need steady income, so i bit the bullet and applied for a job that i'm grossly overqualified for but need nonetheless. working in a video store can be fun, right? :p i just need something until we move back to austin, where i've got a better opportunity lined up. gotta sell our house first, though! we buried our little st. joseph statue the other day (google 'st. joseph real estate kit' if you aren't familiar and want a good laugh ;)), so hopefully someone will want our house soon!

♥,
melissa

busy busy busy!

whew, this holiday season has been soooo busy so far! i thought i'd take a moment to update you while i can :).

first:

it would appear that pete has a lady friend! my husband and i call her 'patty' because we're silly.

here's pete from the other day, and you can tell they're two different roadrunners because of their patterns and one has more orange by its eyes than the other.

fancy feet pete :).

also, i've been writing a novel in my spare time (!). i used to write all the time, but since an unfortunate occurance in my life when i was 18, i haven't written much... until recently! it feels good to have those creative juices flowing again after 7 years of a dry spell.

the holidays are coming up quickly, and i can barely keep up! i hope you're all keeping warm and being happy and enjoying family and friends - i don't know about you, but this time of the year always makes me especially grateful for everything i have :).

♥,

melissa

another little thing

i found this pretty little guy outside when i went to check the mail this afternoon.







please forgive the state of my nailpolish - as you might have gathered by now, i work with my hands all day ;). also, blogger is being dumb, and that's why this picture is sideways for some reason (anyone else having this issue with some pictures?).

"oh hai!" :).

that's all!

♥,
melissa

moon

the other night, the moon was huge and super bright.

that's all, just wanted to share :).

♥,
melissa

new fabulous items just listed!

if you've looked in my shop at all today, you might have noticed something exciting: nearly 20 new items, mostly from my new and popular 'kabuku' line!

some of my favourite newbies:

'vintage crane' wall scroll

'tropical blossom' kabuku necklace

'plum branch' kabuku necklace on one of my new 18" gunmetal chains (also sold separately)

'chakra flower' kabuku necklace

'winter wonderland' is back for the holiday season!


a new style of ring: rectangle wood pieces for the perfect kabuku look

and finally...

kabuku wrapped bangle bracelets! these are $20 each and are in very limited quantity currently (i only have 2 of the purple, one of the red, and one of the branches). hopefully i will be able to get ahold of more bracelet blanks soon, because i love these!

whew, well, i've spent the entire day either taking pictures or sitting on the computer listing these new beauties, and i think i deserve a break! time for me to go relax and drink one of these delicious hot chocolate things i whip up :).

♥,

melissa

little things

brandon and i found this little guy hanging out on our patio a few nights ago. look how tiny he is!

he was a sweet little guy, too. didn't even pee on me! :p

and i spotted this creepy baby scorpion on our house. it's getting cold outside... what's he doing out in the open?!

♥,

melissa

get 'em while you can!

head on over to the clearance section (where everything is half off!) in my shop if any of these cuties catches your eye... once they're gone, they're gone!

♥,
melissa