It's Time

Hello, friends! It's time to reopen my shop! New useful things will be coming, along with some patterns and other bits. I'm still hammering stuff out and building up inventory. Keep watching this space for more news and my official reopening date!

ATTENTION!!

I regret to announce that my shop will be closing at the end of October. I've had a great time as a seller on Etsy and I will still be around as I do not intend to stop shopping there.

If you've been waiting, now is the time! Want a custom Gnome? I can still do it!

As always, if you want to chat, you can send me a convo on Etsy, find me in the Etsy forums, keep up with me at my main blog, or reach me on Twitter .

Thanks everyone for your support!

Getting to that Time

Halloween designs are coming back soon! Get ready for some new designs and some old favorites!

A Trip to Maryland

Heading to Maryland in the middle of a work week doesn't happen very often. It was necessary this time because I had to go to the dentist, and I'm still going to the same doctor I've been seeing for the past 18 years. But, I'm glad that Tzipi arrived when she did, so she could get two states out of her trip with me!

Since my family always went to the dentist together, my parents also had appointments this day. First, we went to their house, where Tzipi got to meet my mom's Pomeranian puppy, Buffy.


Buffy is a sweet little dog, but she is a puppy, and Tzipi would have been in mortal danger if I left them alone. I think you can tell she's a little concerned! But, don't worry! I never let Buffy get anywhere close and Tzipi was always safe with me.

Next it was off to the dentist. Tzipi read a neat article on wolves from an old National Geographic while we waited.


My regular hygienist was on vacation, so I got to see someone new. She was very kind to Tzipi and let her sit in the chair. It's ok, Tzipi, it's my cleaning, not yours!


Tzipi asked a lot of questions about what the girl was doing to me. We had to tell her that keeping your teeth clean is very important! Thankfully, I've never had a bad experience at my biannual cleaning, so I had nothing but good stories to tell.


This was the first time I had gone since I moved, so I had to make sure they had my new address. The new receptionist was having a hard time getting my address in the system. She couldn't understand why it was not automatically filling in the city and state when she entered the zip code. One of the more seasoned employees came in and told her she had to type it in manually because they don't have any other patients who live where I do, so the system doesn't recognize the zip code! She said I must be the only one who refuses to find a new dentist. Tzipi just stood by trying really hard not to laugh.

As is tradition, after getting our teeth scrubbed clean, we have to go dirty them up in some fantastic way. We decided to go to Sakura, a Japanese hibachi restaurant.


Tzipi is all ready with her iced tea and her chopsticks!


She just could not take her eyes off of the chef. He put on quite a show while preparing our meal.

After lunch, we all wanted to further compound our now-dirty teeth with some nice ice cream. But first, my mom decided she wanted a fancy new cell phone.


Tzipi liked this one the best and my mom agreed. She even let Tzipi play with it on the ride home!


But first, we needed ice cream! I got a coffee and mint to share with Tzipi. She said it was really good.

After out little Maryland adventure, I took her home and we both went to bed. It was a long day!

Tzipi was still sleeping when I had to leave for work on Thursday, so I let her spend the day with the Gnomes again. When I came home, she was on the couch with Miss Luna surrounded by Gnomes watching Jim Henson's The Storyteller. I think Tzipi has a fondness for Jim Henson!

Friday, Tzipi came to work with me again, and we had to stop by the post office to ship a Pirate Gnome to London. That Gnome got a great send-off!


Next is a day at home today, and then Sunday brunch with the Renaissance Festival crew tomorrow in Annapolis!

Just Hangin with the Gnomies

Because we had an important prospective client visiting the office on Tuesday, Tzipi didn't really want to come to work with me. That was perfectly alright, as there are plenty of Gnomes in my home to keep her company, and Miss Luna is a very mellow kitty who doesn't seem to bother them. I told Tzipi not to get into any trouble as Noam and I headed to work (Noam always comes with me, that's part of his job).

You would not believe what I found when I got home! Tzipi was on the couch surrounded by Gnomes and Sylphs and piggies of every kind, listening to Nigel, the Gnome with Tome, read a story.


It was the cutest thing ever! And Tzipi seemed to really enjoy it, particularly since she had helped me make some of those books the day she arrived.

After that, Tzipi helped me make dinner. It was noodles with salmon and veggies.


This is when I noticed one of the origami spiders has followed us home from the office on Monday. And Minty, the Woolly Gnome has really taken a liking to Tzipi too.


After dinner, we all settled down with Miss Luna to watch Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland.

Wednesday is a trip to Maryland!

Meet Tzipi the World-Traveling Flutterbutt

A Flutterbutt is a soft, foamie creature born and bread in Israel and brought into the world by the very talented Sharona of raisinlike. One day Tzipi decided she wanted to see the world, so Sharona contacted her friends, helped Tzipi lace up her combat boots, and sent her on a world tour! Tzipi has seen many parts of England, Scotland, France, and New Zealand before making her way to the U.S. and finally to my little plot of land in Virginia. There was a bit of a mix-up with her flight, but here she is arriving safe and sound yesterday morning.


Tzipi had a long trip to get to me from Arizona. While she knows I just moved and was excited to help get me settled, I thought it would be a good idea to give her a chance to rest up.


First, she picked out a movie to watch. I had a lot of things in my collection that she'd never seen before. She chose the Muppet Movie. Good choice!


I did have to get some work done and Tzipi did a great job helping me make some books for Gnomes with Tomes™. She was amazed that they were just her size!


But, she did have a long day, so we both turned in early. She got to sleep in a special shell bed next to my Fairy House from Rachel with a bookcase nearby so she could read if she had trouble sleeping. Of course she had no trouble sleeping!

This morning meant I had to go to work. Tzipi got all dressed up and sat with Noam the Gnome while I worked. They chatted and told stories of their adventures (because Noam likes to travel too). The origami spiders liked to hear the stories too! Tzipi admitted to not being fond of spiders, but said the origami ones weren't bad.


Unfortunately, I had a dreadful migraine and had to leave work early. Tzipi said Noam showed her around my yard while I took a nap. I don't like them going outside alone, because there are many feral cats about, but Noam said they were safe.

Tomorrow, there is a big prospective client coming to the office and we've all been ordered to give a flawless first impression. Tzipi told me she was a little nervous because she doesn't have any real business attire with her. She's decided to hang at the house for the day. There are plenty of Gnomes to keep her company!

New Tomes

New Tomes are available with Gnomes with Tomes™!

You can now choose a blank tome, a tome written in Gnomish (illegible scribbling), The King of the Waters - a complete fairy tale by Cael Jacobs, or Taya's Charms Part 1 - an epic in multiple volumes by Erin Bridges.

You pick the robe color, eye color, and the content of your tome! Order your Gnome with Tome today!