Early Endeavors giveaway!

I am pleased to introduce you to Jessica of Early Endeavors - Parent coaching for peace and change.
Jessica founded Early Endeavors in 2011 with over 10 years of experience and education in child development and coaching. She uses her own skills and passions to collaborate with parents and teachers and help them make successful changes that bring them more happiness and fulfillment. I only just recently discovered Jessica myself and I am so happy I did. I look forward to every bit of wisdom and word of encouragement she has to share.

Please join me in welcoming Jessica.

Please tell us a bit more about your self. I'm a mom of 3, living in the pacific northwest (where I grew up). My kids are 11, 6 and 7 months and they have taught me more about life in the last 11 years than anything in the first 21 years before them! I'm inspired by nature, good books and things that keep my hands busy. Our family takes full advantage of everything the environment our here has to offer. From forests and trails to oceans and beaches - we love being out in it together!
 

What inspired you to start your business? Definitely my kids - before my first was even born! I knew that I wanted to parent with the long-term relationship in mind. I wanted to be in partnership with my kids and be the confident, gentle leader that they needed. It's been a hard, beautiful, exhausting and joyful experience to learn how to do just this. Early Endeavors is my way of helping other parents who want do do things differently or need some guidance, love and non-judgmental support. The parents really have all the answers and I just come alongside them and help them with the tools to make it all work.
 

What's your favorite part of your job? My favorite part is getting to hear all of the beautiful, powerful, remarkable changes being made in the world. Parents are stepping up and working to leave this world better than we found it - for our kids.
 

How are your children incorporated into your business? My son, 11, likes to sit down and read all of my content and copy as I'm writing! I love this. He gives me lots of feedback and a kid's perspective on parenting. His insights are valuable and this dialogue even helps our relationship.

 

What offering in Early Endeavors are you most excited about right now? I'm really excited to be working on an e-course that families can work through at their own pace. This course will be delivered via email and video, have built-in support with monthly coaching Q&A calls and be affordable so that it is accessible to any family that needs it.

 

What advice would you give a new parent? Trust your gut. Look to your baby for cues. If someone offers you advice - process it and decide if it jives with what you know to be true in your heart. You are your child's advocate and safe place.
 

What is one thing each family could do to make their home lives a bit calmer? I think we could always, always, always go s-l-o-w-e-r. Simplify the to-do list and only do the priorities. Stay home more. Build in lots of do-nothing and wants-nothing time. It's hard in this time of computers, smartphones and apps to just relax.

Tell us what you envision and dream for the future of your business. I love seeing the changes and the way that this work ripples out and effects so much more than I can ever touch on my own. I want to see this business get bigger than me - to outgrow what I can do by myself. Right now, my dream is to talk to as many parents as I can, create more ways for people to work with Early Endeavors (beyond one-on-one coaching) and create a community of parents who are committed to being in relationship with their children and to supporting each other.

Do you have a favorite inspirational quote? I like so many! Right now I'm identifying with: Hurting people, hurt people. Not very inspirational but a good quote for working with my feelings. I don't know who it belongs to but it reminds me that it goes both ways. Kids lash out when they're hurting inside - so do adults. When I think of it, I check in with myself - like, what's hurting you right now? What are you going to do with that? It helps me process my feelings so that I can be present for my kids.
 

Anything else you'd like to add? One of my most important messages is  - take care of yourself and move past your mama guilt. You're not a better parent for sacrificing your own time and needs or dwelling on what you could have done better in a given situation. You ARE a better parent when you take care of yourself, are gentle with you and process and move on from the tough stuff.

Thank you, Jessica. I really couldn't agree more!

Today Jessica is offering one of you lucky readers a one-on-one session. This session will help you identify key parenting/life issues, your own limiting beliefs around them and how to shift these things to get what you need and change your relationships! Some examples of things she has covered with private clients includes: yelling, feeling overwhelmed, kids not listening, tantrums, lying - the list goes on and on.

For your chance to win, simply leave a comment on this post!

If you would like an additional chance to win:

-like Early Endeavors on Facebook
-post this giveaway to Facebook, Twitter, or your blog
-leave a comment telling us all your biggest parenting struggle or some of you favorite parenting advice

and please make sure to come back and leave me another comment letting me know you did so! I will close comments on Wednesday September 5th and announce the winner within this post.


Comments closed. The winner is:

motherism

Oh my gosh I NEED THIS, really! I was just thinking last night I yell WAY too much, especially in the evening! And I want to stop : /

So would love the chance to win, thanks!

 

Congrats!! Please e-mail me at: farmergopi (at) yahoo (dot) com

Good luck everyone and thank you again, Jessica!

Early Endeavors giveaway!

Keep Calm Craft On {crafting on}

The act of creating, in one form or another, preserves my sanity amongst the chaos of life. This explains why I always have more than one project going at a time as well as why my housework tends to fall behind. I enjoy seeing what others are working on and keeping calm with, too. What are you creating? What is keeping you going? Snap a picture or two and share it with the rest of us by leaving your link below.


Between frantically cleaning the house, taking the girls to their dental appointments and meeting with our realtor, I nearly forgot to take my KCCO photo today. By the time the dust settled, the light was quickly fading so I did the best I could to capture a photograph. Little L came along and helped.

I am currently calling the project above my "stress project". What is it about being stressed out that makes me want to knit feverishly and complicate patterns? Am I just trying to get my kicks? Maybe it's from the lack of control over what's going on in my life that manipulating numbers to create something new brings some sanity back? Whatever the reason may be - it really helps to center me and prepare me for the next day of chaos.

Anyways, I am nearly finished with the top down owlet and decided I needed something a bit more challenging. C had been telling me she felt a bit neglected in the knitting department so I searched for something to make her. I found this free baby sweater pattern and decided to completely rework it to make it fit C. I have crazy notes already and need to get them up on rav before I lose them. I am basically making up this pattern as I go. We'll see how it comes out in the end.

What are you working on? Happy creating!

p.s. Check back later this week for a great giveaway!

If you would like to link up and share your current works in progress (or finished works) please leave your link below. It can now be either to your specific blog post or Flickr photo. There are no rules, only that your link is current and something about a craft project (of any kind) you are working on. Don't forget that there is now a KCCO Flickr group for you to share your crafting photos at anytime.

Please remember to link back here so that others who may want to join KCCO can find us.

It's as simple as that. Remember your post can be from any day of the week, it doesn't have to be today. We all love feedback so if you have a moment please leave a comment on some of the KCCO posts you may visit. I know from my own experience just how much your comments really motivate me! Now please share and inspire us all!

Keep Calm Craft On {crafting on}

More child friendly home rearranging (in the midst of preparing to move)

Preparing to move and sell our house seems like a perfectly logical time to put holes in our walls and rearrange things, right? Okay, okay, the truth is I needed a distraction. While the girls were in VBS a couple of weeks ago, Little L and I took a trip to Ikea to price shop bunk beds. I tool full advantage of this time out and slowly walked through the whole store gathering ideas for our next home. Before we left, I purchased a couple of their very inexpensive wooden spice racks, having seen a wonderful use for them on pinterest.

I honestly didn't plan on putting them up until we moved but then after days of monotonous work, I wanted to do something fun (and useful). So I hung up one of the spice racks in our bedroom as a bookshelf for Little L. It's right by his little corner of the room, eliminating the need for a book basket (that was constantly tripped over or thrown about). I made him test it out to make sure I got it at just the right height. It was perfect. He loves it and is a bit crazy about keeping it neat.

I truly have so much fun coming up with ways to make our home more child friendly. Perhaps too much fun? I look forward seeing what we come up with in our Idaho home!



Meanwhile, our children have been keeping themselves busy with things like these sticker shoes you see above. I so love their imagination and creativity!



I have been enjoying creating delicious things to eat after a hard day of work. Pictured above is a Thai tempeh stir fry and some ridiculously good vegan ranch dressing, both recipes from the Native Foods Restaurant  cookbook. I suppose I need to stop getting distracted so easily! Our realtor comes tomorrow and we still have a bathroom with half the wallpaper removed and a basement floor we need to paint.



Oh, one last thing! My friend Lisa has this amazing e-course to plan your Waldorf homemaking and homeschooling year going on right now. I joined but I am still playing catch up. I need this course quite badly. I have not yet begun to plan our homeschooling year, and I am still waiting on some important curriculum packets to make their way to me. I don't plan on starting our school year until October, with the move and all, so hopefully I'll be able to get everything together soon.
I do, however, have K's pentatonic recorder in hand. Of course, I realized that I need one too, (to show her how to play it) after this one arrived. So far every book I bought expects me to remember how to read music - which I do not. Ack! Anyways, come join us in preparing for this upcoming school year.

Here's some more info from Lisa:

Come join a lively, warm and dynamic group of moms, teachers and guest speakers in Get Organized! :: Sketch it Out, a Planning Session for Waldorf Homemakers and Homeschoolers. This e-Course has been extended to run for another four weeks, from August 19th through September 14th.

Guest speakers include Howard Schrager of LMNOP on Off to a Good Start, Lynn Jericho On Temperaments, Rahima Baldwin on You Are Your Child's First Teacher, Nancy Parsons Whittaker and Christine Natale, author of Fairy Tales.

We work on Daily Rhythm, Weekly Rhythm, Monthly Rhythm, Seasonal Rhythm and Yearly Rhythm, all within the context of the year as a breathing cycle in Sketching out curriculum for the grades, kindergarten, nursery and homemaking through the year. Where do they overlap? How to use Soul Economy*? Sample rhythms, sample planning and a strong community of moms who are striving to bring strong and gentle rhythms to home life and homeschooling Waldorf style. More information and sign up can be found here: http://www.celebratetherhythmoflife.com/2013/07/announcing-planning-session.html The course fee is $25

More child friendly home rearranging (in the midst of preparing to move)

We'll Be Coming Round the Mountain...

We journeyed to the top of our mountain recently to see what we could find up there. K has been asking for weeks to go to the top so we had to make sure we did it. Sadly, a lot of the top appears to be developed but there were some amazing areas where mother nature and all her wildlife still existed. Our house is about 3/4 of the way up the mountain and the woods behind us is home to many deer, coyotes and at least one bobcat (he visited our backyard when we closed on the house).

Walking to the top

The girls being silly and posing. K's nature bag didn't make it through the walk...

And here's why. Goofy C dragged it around with rocks inside

My little feisty one making faces

Mt. Hood and our view on a clear day. We like to imagine it with out all of the houses below, as the Oregon Trail settlers might have seen it

All of our neighbors seem to have goats, we love it!

C picking fairy clocks, she loves to 'make it snow' with them

Well, how do you like that - a post from 2009 that never made it's way to the blog. Yep, that explains why there is no Little L, why the girls look so much younger and why the pictures are so tiny. I have no clue why I never hit the "publish" button, but I am so very thankful that I found it! Talk about serendipity! Every waking moment right now is spent working in this house. We've hit "crunch time" here.We are set to move mid-September and have the realtor coming this Monday to see if our house is ready to put on the market. We know it's not ready but we are hoping that with a lot of prayers, trust and hope, along with busting our butts we will be able to get this house sold before the big move.

I had to share (because who knows how tomorrow will go and I don't want to forget today!), after a rough day yesterday, I was so close to calling friends and begging them to play with our children so that Kevin and I could get a day of uninterrupted work done. I didn't get around to making any calls but there was definitely a reason for that. Today was one of those magical days that I would usually only read about on other blogs. All three of our children were happily helping us, in one way or another, all day long. We talked about Idaho and our next house as we worked. It felt like we were Laura Ingalls Wilder's family. K even told me, as I tucked her into bed tonight, that she couldn't wait to wake up in the morning to do it all again tomorrow. Oh what a great day it was. Many happy helping hands truly do make light work!

Anyways, enough typing for me, time to get back to work ripping up carpet!

We'll Be Coming Round the Mountain...

Keep Calm Craft On {crafting on}

The act of creating, in one form or another, preserves my sanity amongst the chaos of life. This explains why I always have more than one project going at a time as well as why my housework tends to fall behind. I enjoy seeing what others are working on and keeping calm with, too. What are you creating? What is keeping you going? Snap a picture or two and share it with the rest of us by leaving your link below.

What do you know - there is another Owlet on my needles! I am attempting to knit this one top down. I am keeping detailed notes as I go (on my rav page) so hopefully I can be of help to anyone else who may want to try it this way, as well. I don't mind bottom up construction, really I don't, it's just that I prefer to try the project on the intended recipient while knitting to make sure it will fit - which is only possible when knitting top down. Plus, I like that I can just add length to the body and sleeves in the future if need be.

I am a bit further now than the picture shows (I really needed a night to relax with my needles), and just finished dividing for the arms. I don't know what it was about that step (perhaps staying up too late at night?), but I had a hard time trying to figure out how many stitches for each section and where exactly they should be placed. The short rows on the back of the sweater made it so that the placement had to be pretty spot on. We'll see how it goes from here!

What are you working on? Happy creating!

If you would like to link up and share your current works in progress (or finished works) please leave your link below. It can now be either to your specific blog post or Flickr photo. There are no rules, only that your link is current and something about a craft project (of any kind) you are working on. Don't forget that there is now a KCCO Flickr group for you to share your crafting photos at anytime.

Please remember to link back here so that others who may want to join KCCO can find us.

It's as simple as that. Remember your post can be from any day of the week, it doesn't have to be today. We all love feedback so if you have a moment please leave a comment on some of the KCCO posts you may visit. I know from my own experience just how much your comments really motivate me! Now please share and inspire us all!

Keep Calm Craft On {crafting on}

Please allow me to explain (or a birthday and a hair cut)

Photo for Mackenzie (see - I am still slowly working on my Multnomah Falls!)

My birthday was last week. K made sure no one forgot about it in the midst of moving madness (which I am thankful for). I woke up and went running (my favorite way to start the day) and then came home to the scene you see in the first five photos. I swear the girls get even more excited for other people's birthday than they do their own. They all decorated a box that held a new knitting sheep mug for me (I missed the one that Kevin accidentally broke). We are not big on presents so I was quite surprised about that! We even enjoyed a vegan cake (picked up from Whole Foods).
The girls asked me if I liked my gifts. I told them that I did, indeed, but that the best gift of all is my children. There is truly no greater gift or blessing.

We also celebrated a sweet friend's birthday and had the pleasure of wonderful company, along with some lovable chickens. We noticed that K is truly a farm girl at heart and needs some chickens of her own, even if we don't eat eggs. Maybe some rescued chickens? Much to think about for Idaho!

Did you notice something different about Little L in the photos above? Please allow me to explain my actions. Little L's hair was getting in his eyes all the time. I figured it would grow past that stage soon enough and then no longer be an issue. But then his yearly specialist appointment came (for his Horner's Syndrome) and Kevin mentioned that we should figure out a way to keep the hair out of his eyes because it was probably interfering with strengthening his eyelid affected by the Horner's Syndrome. I hadn't thought of that before. My instant reaction was to cut his hair in the front. Of course, my little guy wiggled like crazy resulting in one really short section. That lead me to try and even it out and before I knew it, he had (uneven) bangs. It's not so bad when they are pushed to the side but oh so obvious when just hanging in his face. I have always trimmed my girls hair without any issues but boy hair is quite different!

Oh and by the way, his appointment went really well! The doctor said Little L's eye is doing wonderfully and that he thinks he might not even need surgery when he is older (more prayers to St. Lucia). He also gave us the info for the specialist in Idaho so we can continue his appointments and treatment, if need be, once we have moved.

p.s -  I encourage you to go check out Cythia's recent post at Cottage 1945. She could really use each and every one of us to help out a young mom recently diagnosed with a life threatening illness. Cynthia created two handmade afghans to auction off and all of the proceeds from the sale of these blankets will go directly to the young mom to help with her medical expenses. Helping those in need is one of the most amazing things about the blogging community.  We can each do one small thing to make a huge impact.

p.p.s -  I posted the winner to the Mamma4earth giveaway. Go check it out!

Please allow me to explain (or a birthday and a hair cut)

Long story short - a difficult situation (guest post by Kevin)

Hello everyone! Please welcome Kevin in this space as he openly reflects on a difficult situation for us all. Long story short...well, this might be long story long. Let's start at the beginning:

Thanks to my current desk job (that also requires me to work 12-18 hours a day, six days a week on average), I have been pretty out of shape these last 4 years. My annual fitness scores that were once slightly increasing year after year, have been slowly decreasing since 2009. My poor Nara Simha Devi, our German Shepherd, was also out of shape and overweight, so I used her as my motivation to get myself back in shape by running with her at my side. As I started to increase our runs to a longer distance, I realized that she was slowing me down. A 4-mile run that I used to do in 30 minutes by myself was taking me over an hour with Nara. Sad to say it, but I had to "fire" her as my sidekick. I take all three dogs bikejoring 6 days a week with a day of rest and recuperation. We do a 1.5-mile loop three to four times each session, with the dogs pulling me, running out ahead while I sit on my mountain bike, barely having to pedal unless we hit a hill. I'm actually braking most of the time. Crazy pulling dogs! I love it. So on days I ran Nara, I would bikejor with Paw Paw and Beowulf. It was an every-other-day schedule of bikejoring all three, then running with Nara and only bikejoring with the two.

Nara went from around 88 lbs down to 75 and is still in the process of losing weight. She lost enough to be able to run harder and faster, well enough to almost keep up with Beowulf and Paw Paw. She got "hired" to be the 3rd member of my bikejoring team, as she is very strong and helps to motivate the other dogs to run better. Since we were no longer running together, I started running by myself, increasing my distance week after week.

I missed having a running partner, and then the light bulb went on! BLINK!!! My crazy Paw Paw, my lead dog, who pulls like no other dog on this planet! Yes! He can be my new running partner. I think I'm in shape enough now to try and handle his speed and power. But I knew he was going to drag me down the road if I didn't wear him down first, so I figured I would do our normal bikejoring ride, go home and let Paw Paw rest while I switch over our gear to prep for the run, and then try things out with a worn down Paw Paw Power! The most he's ever run/biked was 15 miles the first year we moved to Oregon, so he was two years old. He's five now, and has not lost any of his spunk and drive. There was no way I could keep up with him fresh off a night's rest. We did the 4.5-mile bike ride, then built up to the 6.6-mile run, and he ran perfectly at my side. I couldn't believe it. I nicknamed him "My Champion," as he flawlessly kept up with an 11.1-mile total exercising session, all within three hours. Amazing is my Paw Paw Man!

Then the trouble began. The next morning during our bike ride, he had zero pulling power. He was spent. I should've let him take the day off. I've never seen him NOT want to run or pull. As my lead dog, he's always out front of my other two, and pulling harder than both combined. I had to temporarily demote him and replace him with my "backup quarterback" (as I called him), Sir Beowulf the Brave. They swapped positions, as I thought Paw Paw would pull again, chasing after Wulfers in front of him. I was right. He pulled, probably out of demoralization more than anything. So sad. Huskies are known to never complain about pain or discomfort, but his lack of energy made it clear. Something wasn't right. I gave them all a day off. The next day, this past Saturday, Paw Paw was back in the starting position of lead dog, and he ran just fine.



I developed a better plan for the future: I thought I would try alternating running partners. Beowulf has a similar never-ending endurance, as he is part-Siberian Husky and part-Alaskan Malamute, both strong sled dog breeds who will run forever, or 11.1 miles. I would bikejor every day, six days a week, then run with Beowulf day one, Paw Paw day three, Beowulf day five, so on and so forth.

Saturday was Beowulf's day to shine. He's three years old, so he is the puppy and the omega of the pack. He was a rescue who was beaten, starved and neglected when we got him at 14-weeks old. We've worked hard to rehabilitate and socialize him with the world. He is still scared of loud noises and sudden movements, or anything strange or unknown to him. If something is out of place or abnormal, he will freak out. We work diligently with him to get passed his issues. He's come a long way, but still has a long way to go. Most people that meet him cannot believe he survived such abuse, as he acts mostly like a normal, well-behaved dog with a ton of charm.

Off we go! First the 4.5-mile bikejor. Rest while I change and prep. We're on schedule. Now the 6.6-mile run. As we're running, Beowulf is doing remarkably good. I'm verbally praising him the entire time. I notice his head is alerting left, then alerting right, back and forth, over and over. New sounds. New smells. New sights. Nothing abnormal. He's somewhat spooked by the strangeness of this running trail experience. He's been on it before, but never while running with me. We approach a filled, black plastic garbage bag that someone has left as litter on the shoulder of the trail. Beowulf freaks and stops running. He won't go near it nor passed it. I have to patiently work with him to get him to the other side of this out of place item. I don't remember it being there when Paw Paw and I ran by this point just a few days earlier. Oh well. Beowulf is able to recover and we start running again.
 
We're less than a mile into the run and something else spooked him. I'm still not sure what it was. He spun around nearly 360-degrees while leaping from my right side and landed directly in front of me. I was in mid-stride and my right foot came down on top of his back left paw. This action somehow twisted his paw upside down and grinded it against the ground under my body weight until I could come to a complete stop. He yelped out in pain louder than any yelp I've ever heard before. I thought for sure I broke his leg badly and would have to carry him back to the van and rush him to the 24-hour emergency vet. I immediately noticed that the collision opened a 2-3" gash that exposed the bone and tendons on top of his paw and toe. He was bleeding badly, but was able to walk all the way back to the van without showing any signs of pain or limping. I called our holistic vet, even though I knew they weren't open yet. They answered and said to bring him in right away. If he needed x-rays, they were going to send me to the emergency vet. If not, they said they would squeeze him into their schedule to help sew him back together. Either way, it was going to cost the same, and I'm much happier knowing he's in the hands of our holistic vet who we've trusted for four years, versus a non-holistic doctor and complete stranger.

On pins and needles in the waiting room

He did not need x-rays. Our vet said we would have to leave him all day, and she could perform the necessary surgery during her lunch break. How nice of her to make that sacrifice for our Wulfy dog in need. They had to knock him out, clean the dirt and gravel out of the wound, stitch him up, and that was about it. They called us once he was awake, letting us know that he is no longer falling down. Haha! I can just picture my boy in such a drunken state. They said he was ready to be picked up and go home. We instantly dropped what we were doing, as we agreed the entire family would be there for the reunion. As we arrived, we could hear him whimpering and whining in the back kennel area. He missed us so much, and was probably so scared to be without us after all the abuse he suffered as a pup.



We got him home and had to put him in the cone of shame whenever we're asleep or not able to watch him, which isn't too often. We've been bringing him with us wherever we go while running errands, and we keep him in the same room as us no matter what we're doing: cooking, cleaning, packing, etc. He's made a speedy recovery so far. He goes in on Friday for a check-up, then goes back to remove the stitches on day 14. He'll hopefully be back on the bikejoring team soon after that, and I already promised him I would take him running again with me. I won't let these obstacles and small setbacks hold us down. But I did learn some lessons from this whole crazy situation, and will put into action my plans to avoid a repeat incident.



So here's to our Big Honker Nose as we like to call him! Beowulf is once again The Brave. I "knighted" him for surviving such suffering as a pup, thus the name Sir Beowulf the Brave. The name also brings up fond memories of Monty Python and the Holy Grail, a movie Nicole and I both love. Ha. And of course, his name is from the ancient and heroic, Old English epic poem, Beowulf, commonly cited as one of the most important works of Anglo-Saxon literature. It was a story I read in school as a child, and it has always been one of my favorites ever since.
 

Re-join our team when you are ready, Wulfers. We miss and need you. I'm sincerely sorry about what I did to you. You are one of my children. I would die defending you. I can't believe how this happened. Hopefully you understand it was an accident and not intentional. I would never purposely hurt you. Forgive me. I love you.

Long story short - a difficult situation (guest post by Kevin)

Keep Calm Craft On {crafting on}

The act of creating, in one form or another, preserves my sanity amongst the chaos of life. This explains why I always have more than one project going at a time as well as why my housework tends to fall behind. I enjoy seeing what others are working on and keeping calm with, too. What are you creating? What is keeping you going? Snap a picture or two and share it with the rest of us by leaving your link below.

*Talk about cutting it close! We just got the little ones to bed after a long, wonderful family walk that went well into the evening. Sorry this post is a bit later than usual!*

Have you ever seen a child get excited over fabric? I don't just mean a smile or approval over something you chose for them but absolute head over heels, can't live without it, L-O-V-E. That, my friends, is how Little L feels about this farm truck fabric you see above. Just look at him - I couldn't even photograph it without him running away with it!

I was at the fabric store a few weeks ago searching for something in particular (what that was exactly has completely escaped me now) when we passed that special fabric. He leaned out of the cart and pulled the bolt in with him. He then stared at it, giggled and hugged it over and over again. Obviously, we were not going to be able to leave the store without some of that fabric coming with us.  He was a bit apprehensive about handing it over to get it cut but then happily accepted his yard back and proceeded to smother it all the way home.

I washed it and set it aside, not really sure of what to make for him out of it. Then the other day I noticed that he is outgrowing all of his pants and in need of some for autumn. Perfect! I pulled out his special fabric and my favorite pants pattern from Handmade Beginnings and got to work. I am using the cloth diaper modifications I have used on my past couple of pairs I made (you can see my scribbles and formulas on sticky notes all over the pages), but adding a bit more length. He is such a tiny guy that he'll still fit in the 18-24 month size. I hope he is excited to see them!

What are you working on? Happy creating!

p.s - Last chance to enter the Mamma4earth giveaway! Check it out here.

If you would like to link up and share your current works in progress (or finished works) please leave your link below. It can now be either to your specific blog post or Flickr photo. There are no rules, only that your link is current and something about a craft project (of any kind) you are working on. Don't forget that there is now a KCCO Flickr group for you to share your crafting photos at anytime.

Please remember to link back here so that others who may want to join KCCO can find us.

It's as simple as that. Remember your post can be from any day of the week, it doesn't have to be today. We all love feedback so if you have a moment please leave a comment on some of the KCCO posts you may visit. I know from my own experience just how much your comments really motivate me! Now please share and inspire us all!

Keep Calm Craft On {crafting on}

Mamma4earth giveaway

I am pleased to present my wonderful sponsor Mamma4earth.You may also know her from her blog, Natural Suburbia where she shares her family’s adventures on their homestead in South Africa. I have had the honor of knowning Linda via 'blogland' for about four years now and I always leave her space feeling inspired and encouraged.


About Mamma4earth in Linda's own words:

I am a stay at home mother of four delightful children, who inspire me to create my knitted treasures and design patterns. We live in South Africa on an acre of land, and we try to be as self sustainable as possible, growing our own veggies and fruit and we have 16 beautiful chickens who provide us with lovely free range eggs each day...


My mom was always knitting when I was little, she taught me how to knit when I was 5 years old. I have always loved knitting since then. I was keen to try and knit whatever she was busy making and she would take the time to show me how to make my own version. These are fond memories...

In my shop, Mamma4earth, you will find delightful hand knitted, handmade treasures. All my items are knitted with the most beautiful pure Merino sheep wool from the Cape in South Africa and they are filled with natural fleece. The wool I use is very precious because it is handspun and hand dyed. It has such a lovely soft texture and the most beautiful hues and colour variations that knit up into wonderful characters.



Pickles the Cat is Linda's latest design and was just released on Thursday. Isn't he adorable? I am still knitting up her Beans the cat pattern, but I may just have to cast Pickles on as soon as I am done.
Now if only I can encourage her to create a shark pattern - I would be in heaven! (Hint, hint, Linda!)

To learn more about Linda and Mamma4earth please visit:
the shop
the blog
the Ravelry group

Today, Linda is generously offering one Frontier Dreams reader a plump knitted pig called Petunia and 8 patterns, winner's choice.



Petunia Pig is such a sweet character, she is hefty, plump and large, a wonderful treasure. She was knit with a handspun yarn, about an aran to chunky weight and her finished measurements are:
5.5 inches tall
8 inches from tail to snout
The eyes have been needle felted on with fleece and a felting needle.



For your chance to win, simply leave a comment on this post!

If you would like an additional chance to win:

-like Mamma4earth on facebook
-follow Mamma4earth on twitter
-post this giveaway to Facebook, Twitter, or your blog
-leave a comment letting Linda know what patterns you would love to see her design in the future.

and please make sure to come back and leave me another comment letting me know you did so! I will close comments on Wednesday August 14th and announce the winner within this post.

Comments closed! Winner to be announced shortly. Sorry for the delay! The winner is:

Molly · 6 days ago

Ohh Nicole this would be great! I have some little ones who would love some of these handmade for Christmas!

 

Congrats, Molly! Please contact me at farmergopi (at) yahoo (dot) com

Thank you, Linda. Good luck everyone!

Mamma4earth giveaway