A New Year, a New Start - An Origin Story

We moved to Baton Rouge, Louisiana in July of last year and it was hot as a damn furnace. My boyfriend - it sounds funny calling him a boyfriend after almost 7 years - got a new position in his company and we packed up our bags, sold the house, and moved from the rural Eastern Shore of Maryland to downtown Baton Rouge, the capital of Louisiana. We're renting a 740 sq ft house - a huge downsize for us - in a very eclectic neighborhood just blocks from the Mississippi River. We can ride our bikes downtown for a bite to eat and walk to the farmer's market. Everyone is friendly and there is a great sense of community. Its a huge change for us and we love it.

I thought it would be a piece of cake finding a job in my field in a capital city. In the meantime though I had a good amount of contract work to do for my previous employer so money was coming in. As time passed with only a few job interviews and my contract work beginning to trail off I needed to find a way to make money so I could continue to contribute to my portion of our household expenses. I remembered back to last Spring when I was sitting with my dad and my brother at Hamilton Tavern in Baltimore. We were having burgers before heading downtown to an Orioles game. My dad asked us both what our ideal job would be - what would we do if we could do anything at all. My brother answered that he wanted to work for a major league baseball team, something he's wanted for years. I remember my answer because it was completely honest - no trying to please Dad, just the honest truth. I told him I wanted to live in a small house where I didn't need to make a lot of money to live the simple lifestyle I wanted, to work from home with flexible hours and time for family and friends, and to do something creative like start a needlework business that would turn my hobby into a way to support myself.

I had thought about opening an Etsy shop many times but never actually did it. Going to work in an office building every day, staring at a computer screen was tiring. By the time I got home all I wanted to do was sit on the couch and watch television until bed time. Things are different now. When you take the 9-5 and the daily commute out of the equation your outlook on life changes. I still set an alarm and wake up fairly early. I have coffee and a small breakfast. I go for a nice long walk around Capital Park. When I get home I might start a load of laundry, clean up a room in the house (which is so easy with a small house), make a grocery list, I even volunteer at an animal shelter 2 days a week. All of these positive changes in my life have given me the confidence to take the next step...

Kate + Ice Cream is officially in business!

The time is right and I'm ready for the challenge. I am incredibly lucky to have a boyfriend who is so supportive and friends who have given their kind words. Expect great things from K+IC and I will not disappoint!

I will be posting regularly here on the K+IC blog so add me to your readers. I also have a Facebook page and a Twitter account. Of course there is also the Etsy store so favorite it and check often. Will you be my first customer??

I can't wait to see what 2013 will bring!

Let the Journey Begin!

I got sidetracked again. Instead of going back to my cigar box WIP I decided to start on a whole new something.

Since the end of June I've had a one track mind - and for once it's hasn't been cross stitch! I have discovered the wonderful world of vintage travel trailers - tiny travel trailers to be exact. This includes the old canned-ham-type trailers from the 50s and 60s as well as the older teardrop trailers that are just large enough to sleep two people comfortably. I love them so much that my boyfriend, Jeremy, and I have decided to build one! We've started a blog dedicated to documenting the construction from start to finish as well as all the fun decorating bits in between. Once the thing is built, we'll also use the blog as a travel log for all those fun tiny trailer gatherings and cross-country trips! So come on over to Tracks of my Tear and read all about it!

I'll be posting the progress of a lot of the things I'm making for the trailer here - curtains, pillows, bedspreads. All that good stuff. I started something already, even though we're only in the planning stages of our build. Back when I first started cross stitching I found a Jiffy kit of an RV driving off into the sunset. I held on to it for a long time not really knowing when or if I even wanted to stitch it anymore. The disign is really simple and not completely my aesthetic anymore. But this last time, looking through my stash, I decided it would be perfect for inside the Tear. This is what I've stitched so far. I have a lot of backstitching left to do. And there is a saying that I still need to write in - "Home is wherever you roam". But I'm rolling right along.

I'm going to keep working on it this week and maybe have it finished up by the weekend. We shall see. Until then don't forget to stop over at Tracks of my Tear and tell me what you think of the project so far!

Happy trails!

Good luck, Dad!

My father is currently in New Zealand, lucky son of a gun. It's summer there. Not only that but he's there for a job interview! That means I might actually have a reason to travel half way around the world soon. And, yes, I've considered the downside. Nothing is final yet so I'm not going to go get all worked up but it's fun to think I might be able to bump into these guys on the street in the near future...



Flight of the Conchords! Watch it!

My Little Pony and Friends

On Saturday we went to Assateague Island National Seashore. I haven't been there since my freshman year of college - Spring Break. Jeremy and I live so close now we decided to go have an adventure. If you're not familiar with Assateague it's a barrier island just off the coast of Virginia and just south of Ocean City, MD. There are lots of trails, camp sites and birds to watch. There is also a herd of wild ponies that live on the island (ever read Misty of Chincoteague?)The local yarn is that they are the decendants of shipwreck survivors - arr, matey!

She looks like a particularly salty dog.

After getting up close and personal with the locals we ran over to Salty Yarns - after all we were in the greater Ocean City area. Any destination within 30 miles and I'm required to visit :) I've been on a gift-giving kick recently, and not just because of Christmas so I bought another chart to stitch as a gift. This one doesn't need to be finished until October so I have some time. It's the Primitive Needle's "Hallow Sampler". That's all I am at liberty to say...

The last bit of news thats fit to print is I made my first quilt yesterday! Or at least I "quilted" something. My cat, Boh, has completely covered the bottom corner of my bed in hair. I guess she has decided that this particular place is more comfortable than any other place in the entire house to sleep. I know this because the ratio of cat hair to fabric is exponentially larger than that at any other location. So I decided to make her a blanket to lay on. After all, a blanket is much easier to wash than a quilt cover.

Its pretty small, about 3ft x 3 ft - perfect size for a cat butt. I used 2 different color pieces of fabric, 2 pieces of batting, and 2 thread colors that match the fabric I chose. After I pinned everything in place I sewed a 1in border all the way around the piece. Then I just quilted the sandwich so everything stays put. The only thing I have left to do is slip stitch the 4th edge closed. I'll post pictures as soon as I'm finished.

Oh oh, I also scanned a bunch of my favorite old photos from high school on into Flickr. Still waiting to nab the old photo albums from mom and dad's house!