Gotta tend the earth/If you want a rose

Little Alouette has landed! I alluded to my little project back here. My dear friend Jess and I have been working furiously on our new adventure and I would love to share it with you. Jess and I have been friends for 15 years-wow- it seems so crazy to realize that! So we have a history and it has been back and forth and full of much richness and madness and always a great distance.(Ohio/Maine/England/Florida/Chicago)

I freaked out when I found she and her husband were coming back to Ohio to raise their child. I would be around her again and just like that we fell into the deep well of creativity together. It seemed we were both reaching out for something at the same time. We were both brimming with the creative sparkle. One afternoon as we played with the kids we just decided to start listening to that little buzz in our ear...We decided to do something!
We started thinking and networking and creating and have found ourselves with a vintage-hip children's decor tiny tiny business.We signed up for a couple local fairs and have found ourselves lucky enough to be chosen to have a booth at a large festival that draws over 60,000 people. We connected with a couple shops in Southeastern Ohio that are going to take a shot at some of our treasures too! It is happening quickly and is somewhat crazy, but we are thrilled. Our creations are mostly recycled and re-purposed furniture and specialty items. (we are trying to turn the past pretty again) Jess has a keen eye for textiles and color and I am rather lucky at finding junk that glimmers with possibility and thinking outside the box. We are going to stock our etsy shop in the next two weeks with some small items like growth charts, banners, handmade blocks, cards, and small furniture pieces.
It feels glorious to have something to direct my constant frenzy into, to have another small room of my own. We our firmly planted in reality and cognizant of the struggles and hard work of a wee business...that is the beauty of this type of small mama partnership; we both know what is most important. (Our families and nurturing our souls) I think that at the end of the day, Little Allouette will serve as a much needed Shangri-La that we create for ourselves. A place to go and work on art and things that excite us. A place to share. I would love love to imagine a store front in a couple years that carries amazing handmade treasures from women I meet and admire, and some art classes for the young, but for now I am happy to paint myself silly in my backyard and unleash the whimsy to the world. I love that the evenings are now bright and when the boys are in bed I can learn woodworking from my husband outside and have an open art studio. I am just so happy to have a chance to try.

Jess has started a blog and I hope you will go visit her and wish her welcome to this amazing community. So! Thanks for listening to me ramble on and come visit our etsy shop on April 19th! (I will still have my small etsy shop that I place tiny treasures in too)
This small blog has given me so much shimmer and bounce to my step and that is because of the connections I have forged. Thank you for the daily fill-up blogosphere. xoxoxoxo