Wordless Wednesday - Spot the differences?

Can you spot the 7 differences?

Ride 'em Cowboy!

Yahoo!

Kids love to pretend.  

My kids are great pretenders and I'm sure my mom would confirm that so was I.  Unlike my siblings and I, I'm lucky my kids play well together and enjoy imagining strange worlds they can explore together.

Wordless Wednesday

Emergence

Wordless Wednesday -

First position is the toughest.

Pledge to Buy Handmade

Christmas 2009

For many years, our family has had a tradition of making our own gifts for Christmas.  Candles, pajamas, scrapbooks, art, assorted crafts etc.  But I don't make junk or useless things - it has to have a purpose for the person I'm making it for.

Okay, so maybe I take that a little more to heart than most of the others in my family.  In fact, I almost made myself sick with worry, stress, anxiety and you name it trying to make EVERYTHING for EVERYONE last year.  Ick - won't do that again, but I'll still make at least one thing.  After all....got a few things going on this year! 

This morning, I was adding some brand new items to our store website.  Those gorgeous Stick Ponies by Turtle Monkey Bug, the fabulous and sustainable art supplies by Eco-Kids and the natural (and CANADIAN!) Little Humbug dolls and books.   I'm so excited to be including these in the store, I can't quite express with words.  But what really attracted me to these companies was that their products are handmade!  Yes.... every pot of eco-paint, every eco-crayon and every treeless paper pad is hand made in Maine by Eco-Kids.  Every art book, every moustache, every stick pony and every doll are hand made by Turtle Monkey Bug.   Kindred spirits, right?!  (Sure...Little Humbugs has grown too big now and does use mass production techniques as well, but started hand made)

Socially responsible, huh?

We're getting closer to open date!  It's been absolutely great to get so much positive feedback from my community about the adventure we're about to embark on.  (Okay, granted, perhaps we've embarked already....I would still say we're not quite out of the harbour yet!)  But, my experience sure goes to show you can never judge what others think until you ask them.

At first, trying to explain we're a toy store that isn't a toy store has been a bit tough.  Eventually, I've learned how to explain the concept pretty quickly - now it takes me about 3 sentences instead of 10 minutes!  (Mr. deMille, I'm ready for my close-up now!)  

Eco-tastic ideas!

We just got back from a really amazing trade show featuring everything "kids".  We saw so many cool new things that I can't wait to tell you about.  Eco-tastic was definitely the theme this year and it was exciting to see all the new companies who are coming up with North American-made, eco-friendly options for our kids to live creatively.

eco-paint -made with organic fruit, vegetable and plant extracts

eco-kids are a small family company in Maine.  Kip, one of the owners told us all about the eco-kids concept, manufacturing, ingredients and packaging  - from start to finish an eco-tastic line of art materials!  In their words: "eco-kids is dedicated to offering art supplies for creative play the natural way, using only the most natural ingredients and eco-friendly packaging."

From treeless paper (made from discarded stalks of banana trees), to rice

No Excuses

I hate excuses and apologies when bloggers haven't been able to write - I think people understand when we have a life that isn't in front of this screen!  

But, truthfully, I think I've got a really good one this time:  I've been completely preoccupied with figuring out if this phenomenal chance to OPEN A STORE in our small town is the right thing for our family.  

I haven't meant to neglect my duty to my blog, but my creative energy has been needed elsewhere. I believe that when a door closes, a window opens.  After Allen lost his job in August to restructuring, we felt doors slam shut and the walls start to close in.  Then, another misfortune has presented, perhaps, the most beautiful window to the start of something really wonderful.