A Small Fox in a Big World

Third Annual Small Fox Ornament Swap!

It's that time of year again! Time to start thinking about making ornaments for the Third Annual Small Fox Ornament Swap! I haven't felt much in a Christmas mood, but the temps are finally cooling down and I'm beginning to feel the first whispers of ornament inspiration.

Here's how it will work. The first 24 people to email me at paperfoxling @ yahoo {dot} com with their name and address by Friday November 4th are in the swap. (this will round us out to an even 40 participants.) You will then be responsible for making either 5 or 10 ornaments and mailing them to me, along with $5 to cover postage, by November 25, 2010. I'm doing this a little differently than in year's past, to give people the option of making a smaller amount of ornaments, since I know how busy life can be. (Oh trust me, how I know!)

I will then distribute the ornaments, so everyone gets what they put in to the swap, without having to worry about participants who flake out. If you send 5 ornaments, you will receive 5 in return. If you send 10, then you will receive 10. You should receive your ornaments sometime the first or second week of December and then will have the rest of December to enjoy them!

For inspiration, here are some ornaments I've made in the past!

Hope to hear from you soon! I'm so excited to see what you are making!

The Second Annual Small Fox Ornament Swap!

*please pardon my all lower case life style. one of my shift keys is not working and it's just easier not to capitalize at all.

i had so much fun last year, i decided to do it again! i proudly present to you THE SECOND ANNUAL SMALL FOX ORNAMENT SWAP!

Here's how it will work. The first 24 people to email me at paperfoxling @ yahoo {dot} com with their name and address are in the swap. (this will round us out to an even 40 participants.) You will then be responsible for making 10 ornaments and mailing them to me, along with $5 to cover postage, by November 24, 2010. I will then distribute the ornaments, so everyone gets what they put in to the swap, without having to worry about participants who flake out. You should receive your ornaments sometime the last week of November or first few days of December and then will have all of December to enjoy them!

the swap was pretty epic last year! here is photographic proof:

1. sparrow in situ, 2. snowflake hoop, 3. from dawn, 4. from kristin, 5. from frizz, 6. from kristin extra, 7. from julia , 8. zakka owl, 9. felted snowball, 10. from chickenbetty, 11. from vanessa, 12. from danamarie 2, 13. denim tree, 14. from danamarie 1, 15. from amy, 16. from effunia

this is just a smattering of the awesomeness that made it's way through my home last year. i'm so excited to see who else will be participating this year! happy swapping!

DQS8 Received

I don't think I ever showed you the quilt I received for DQS8, which is really too bad, because it's awesomesauce! And since I'm not one to leave you hanging, here you go:

It's pretty much the greatest thing ever. Made by Miss Pinktrees. It has foxes and great fabrics and little hills and trees and teenie houses and foxes and I love love LOVE it! The back is just as fabulous as the front, so we might have to do some kind of time share for display. One month front, one month back, etc. Either way, it's love!

I got a new car!

Friday, in a grand "4th times the charm" adventure, Brian drove two hours away and back in a snow storm to procure me a new automobile. It was time. I love my Volvo to pieces and miss it a lot, but it was a '94 and needed about $3500 worth of work to make it viable again. It just wasn't worth it. I'm pretending that my Nadamobile has gone to greener pastures to frolic with all the other much-loved vehicles. I'm not sure that that's not true, so I'm sticking to it. In the meantime, the Malibu and I are learning to like each other.

I was reading the manual on Saturday, trying to learn how to operate the command center and such when I got to a strange entry. It said "Rear Table (Maxx only)." TABLE?! In a hatchback? Surely I would have noticed that by now. Well, I ran right outside and low and behold, there is a table! The rear parcel shelf pulls forward and has a fold down leg that rests near to the latching mechanism for the trunk. I'm far more amused by that than I should be, I suppose, but still. A TABLE!

The CD player has no place to attach an iPod and you can't easily change out the CD player, as that also functions as the command center for the car. So, instead of being sad, I whipped myself up a CD holder for my visor instead, using this tutorial. It's quite a welcome bright spot in the otherwise dark interior of the car. Now, I just have to decide which songs to burn off. I haven't made a mix CD in the longest time and I'm looking forward to the challenge!

2009: A Year in Pictures

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

Merry Christmas

I'm an auntie! This is Miss Kennedy Renee. Born Christmas morning at 12:06am. She is 6lbs 14oz, 18 1/2 inches long. YAY CHRISTMAS BABY!

Our Trip to the Tree Farm

We went to the tree farm the day after Thanksgiving. It was a new farm and I don't like it as much as the one that used to be in town here. I started off grouchy, because the lack of snow just put me in a foul mood, and just got grouchier. Everyone wanted to play and I was all, "NO! Tree hunting is serious bidniss!" Luckily, they just left me to look on my own and went and had fun without me. And I found a tree, though I didn't like it much. But then we brought it home and put it up and it's wonkiness really grew on me. So, I'm sorry for being grouchy, family. Thanks for ignoring me!

Gretchen's Baby Shower

My little sister is due with her first child sometime between December 26 and January 6. So, I threw her a party, with a lot of help from my mom. We brought way too much food that I forgot to take a picture of and people came and brought lots of fun gifts, which I did take pictures of! You can see all of the pictures right here! Enjoy!

Employee Enrichment Day

Every year on Columbus Day, we go on a tour of other libraries, since we are closed. Here are some highlights of this year's trip!

I love that proper shelving resulted in these books being color coordinated. Happy accidents for the win!

The is the Story Hour person's chair. I need a happy throne just like this. NEED!

The ceiling at the state capitol.

The Law Library. STUNNING!

A stained glass window at the State Library.

Some sculpture at the new park.

And a bit of rest after a long day!

First Annual Small Fox Ornament Swap: Sign Ups Closed THANK YOU!

After some disappointments the past few years participating in another ornament swap, I thought it was high time I started my own! And so, I present to you THE FIRST ANNUAL SMALL FOX ORNAMENT SWAP!

Here's how it will work. The first 20 people to email me at paperfoxling @ yahoo {dot} com with their name, address and a statement of interest are in the swap. You will then be responsible for making 10 ornaments and mailing them to me, along with $5 to cover postage, by November 21, 2009. I will then distribute the ornaments, so everyone gets what they put in to the swap, without having to worry about participants who flake out. You should receive your ornaments sometime the last week of November or first few days of December and then will have all of December to enjoy them! 

Here are some examples of what I've made in the past:

I always try to put a lot of thought, time, and effort into the ornaments that I make each year and I know you will all do the same! I can't wait to find out who will be participating! Please post any questions you may have in the comments and then please check back, as I will be posting answers there as well! Happy Swapping!