Father's Day

    With Father's day rapidly approaching, I had to really rack my brain for something to give my dad. He is very artistic (which means it has to be tasteful) and has the type of life style that allows him to go out and get most things that he could want. The last couple of years, I have decided that the only thing he doesn't have the ability to go out and buy is things hand made for him by his loving daughter. By making his gifts I can be guaranteed of two things. The first being that he doesn't already have it and the second that he realizes exactly how much thought and effort is put into his gift (that way even if he doesn't like it, he is still happy to have it. Muhahahaha the power of hand made gifts is unconquerable!)
    My father and share a love for art and the finer things, and as I tried to come up with something original with that in mind, I decided that I would find inspiration from the Art Nouveau and Art Deco periods.  Well, I decided to use the KISS method (Keep It Simple Silly) and go with the ever traditional neck tie as a father's day gift. I found some really cool fabric, and using a vintage pattern, I came up with these beauty s:

Unfortunately my camera skills are not what I would like them to be, but hopefully you can see the beauty of them:) I thought they were so cool, I made some extras and listed them in my etsy shop. Hope your father's day gift hunts are going well. :)

Oh Wow What an Update!

   A lot of changes have rapidly taken place since my last post! Time for a super update, but before that, an appology for being away for so long. Once you see why, I am sure you will understand.
   As you know, I have been really wanting to do something that matters in the world, or maybe not the world but at the very least one person? I was thinking of social work or finding a super great charity and funneling my passions and energy into that. Well, what you may not know is that I have a child with Aspergers  Syndrome (a form of autism. He is 15 years old. I thought all was going ok with him, then one day when I was at work, I got a call from the County Sheriff letting me know that my son is fine, but that they had to bring him into the Emergency Room for evaluation. My heart just dropped. I was seriously freaking out but since I was at work, I had to maintain a professional demeanor (and let me tell you that was not easy) until I could find someone to cover the rest of my shift and get to the hospital to see my son.
    Isn't it funny that when you are told that someone is fine, you just can't really believe it until you lay your own eyes on them? You just kind of get the attitude of "I'll be the judge of that". This situation was no different. So at this point, my only motivation was to find my son a see what the heck was going on with him and do my own analysis of the situation.
     When I got to the hospital, what I saw was a child that was not fine. Sure he was breathing, and had no blood or injuries of any kind and physically, he was ok, but emotionally, he was definitely not ok. Apparently he had quietly descended into a depression so deep that he decided the best thing to do was to end the situation. The situation he was trying to end was the one where the actions in his life included breathing. I will not go into detail, Let's just say he had a definite plan, including a day and time picked. I was devistated. I knew he was feeling a little down lately, but I just didn't see this one coming. Thinking back I guess there were signs (symptoms of suicidal thoughts), but with my busy work days, struggling to meet even the basic needs of the family (having dinner ready, attempting to get the house clean, etc) I had absolutely missed them. He was admitted into the Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Ward at the hospital.
     For me, this was unacceptable. I sincerely feel that, as a parent, I had failed my child. I got so wrapped up in the day to day things, I missed what was right there. I also felt powerless. Here was my son saying, I am done with you all and you have no choice in the matter. I have found out that there is not always clear cut signs and hope to learn to forgive myself for being..... human I guess (We can't all be one of those super moms that can juggle cooking dinner, helping Billy with his homework at the same time as closing a big deal at the office on her cell phone, while petting the dog and feeding the cat.); after accessing the situation, I decided to control the only thing I was really able to control- me. So yeah, I quit my job.
    This is a very scarey step for me! Wow is all I can say. My son was on the ward for a little over two weeks. In that time I put in my notice and through talking with my son, figured out what changes he would like to see happen and what changes I was willing/able to make happen. Surprisingly, seeing me everyday was pretty close to the top of his list (I would sometimes go 3 or 4 days without seeing him for more than 5 minutes in a day because of school and my work schedule). Now I am attempting to work at home. I have opened an etsy shop (dreamysmoxie.etsy.com). So far, I really haven't sold anything, but I am hoping to make it work. Right now I am trying to save up for Hippotherapy that is both costly but proven effective for children with autism and also for ones that are considered at risk. So, wish me luck! I'm gonna need it, oh and since I am a newbie on etsy, any tips or ideas from anyone (even if it is not positive) of something I could do better or make for your viewing pleasure (or should I say purchasing pleasure?) please feel free to let me know! I appreciate your input. Also, any of you out there dealing with any of these issues? PLEASE let me know. I want to talk to you or maybe just know I'm not alone in all of this.Thanks and I promise to start blogging more often. =^.^=