So it's been a while....

Well folks, the last few months have been really eventful!  I have just not been able to keep up with everything and I apologize to my small little fan base that I have been away.  So for the BIG NEWS!  My family is moving home to Washington state...

We love Montana dearly, however quite frankly...  the economy sucks!  My husband is a CNC machinist and for almost two years now has been searching for work here and there just is none.  We always thought that we chose carefully with our professions and that our skills and training would stand by us during any economic crisis.  What we didn't count on was that Montana just is not manufacturing driven, hence very few jobs available in his field.  And honestly, I really didn't want to move to Helena or Kalispell, where there were jobs, just to stay in Montana.  I wish that I could say I make enough money to support this little family on my own, but even with Eclectique Butterfly it is just not so.  So after much deliberation, many, many tears and several prayer sessions, we are headed to greener pastures!   

Washington state is home for us. Roy was born and raised in Vancouver, WA and myself about an hour and a half north of there in a little town called Adna.  My parents still live in the house I grew up in and I am grateful that I will be close enough to see them a few times a month especially now that they are getting older.  All of Roy's family except his parents still live there and we still have so many friends there despite the fact that we haven't lived there in 13 years. 

So we are Vancouver bound :)  The little duplex that my WONDERFUL sister in law found for us is literally 5 minutes from the bridge to Portland, OR and all the amazing things that a large city has to offer.  There are four Costco's in the area and my personal fave, Trader Joes!  The shopping mall choices are staggering, from Lloyd Center, to Clackamas to Vancouver mall, ooohhh, I am going to be in shopping heaven!!  Of course I am also excited to see family and friends (Dawna, margaritas, your house next Friday???) and I am super stoked about all the opportunities that this move will give us.  We both have interviews next week, and if my track record for snagging every job I have ever interviewed for holds true, well then I will hopefully have a job by next Friday!

For those of you I did get to see before I leave next week, I am so grateful for that and I cherish your friendships and the times we have spent together.  For those I didn't get to see (all of my Jenn's, sniff, sniff) I am so sorry, but if you are headed to Portland anytime, please give be a holler!

So for now, I am taking down my etsy shop until I can get to Vancouver get settled.  I have a ton of bags that have never made it into the shop that I am hoping to get loaded once we get there.  Just because I have been absent doesn't mean I haven't been sewing :)  Sewing is quite therapeutic you know...  I am also hoping to do some farmer's markets in Portland or Vancouver and find a few shops to sell my bags.  I have some new patterns for bags and hats that I was working on prior to the decision to move and I am excited about debuting my new products!

Thanks for all the friendships and memories Montana, I will miss you :( 

Jules

Newest Treasury :)

Another one of my bags was featured in an Esty Treasury , Look Ma, it's new and cool again!  I love the name of the treasury and she has some really cool repurposed items featured.  Like this cute little lion...

and this little dish made from an old bottle...



So tell me, what have you made new again lately???

Jules

Back at it :)

I've got a bit of catching up to do folks!  December just flew by a little faster than I had intended and I fell behind.  My darling hubby and I celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary in December, as well as me getting sick for almost two weeks and then the holidays were upon us :)

For Christmas eve, my older son and his wife spent the night as we did a non-traditional Christmas eve dinner of Chinese food followed by Christmas breakfast in the morning.  We had already decided that since times were a little lean, that we were just going to do a small gift and play the white elephant game with them.  However, Roy and I were a little mischevious with a cash windfall that happened along, and bought the kids some gifts.  We waited until after everyone had gone to bed and then snuck out to the living room to stash the gifts under the tree.  It was wonderful to see the looks of surprise on their faces the next morning :)

New Years eve was spent pretty much the same way, hanging out with the kids and playing  Loaded Questions.   We highly recommend this game to anyone and everyone!  We have never laughed this much playing a game with the kids!!!

So that's it for a quick catch up.  I'll be back with some more soon :)

Jules