Coffee, Cookies, and Crafts 4

Come see me this weekend at Coffee, Cookies, and Crafts 4 at Bragg's Pie Factory this Saturday from 12-5. I'll be setting up there with some of my favorite local vendors. And the best part about the whole thing... free cookies!

LOVE for Japan

After the tragedy happened in Japan a few weeks ago, I was watching the footage feeling absolutely helpless (like everyone else, I'm sure.) I decided to design a {LOVE for Japan} t-shirt and donate the proceeds to the American Red Cross. My dear friend Laura of Laura Winslow Photography immediately hopped on board with my idea and shot some amazing pictures that I could use.

Laura is one of the busiest women I know but she dropped everything to take these pictures. I had the files from her just a few hours after she received the t-shirt. 

When I created the tee, I thought that I might sell about 20-30 of them. I was so wrong. You folks are amazingly generous and giving!! I sold well over 100 of these little tees in just two days and was able to donate over $1,300 to the American Red Cross. I am still blown away by everyone's generosity.

Because I applique these tees by myself and have sold so many, I closed the sale of the tees on my site. However, if anyone is still interested, send me a message at finleyandoliver@gmail.com and I would be happy to make a few more (100% of the proceeds will go to the American Red Cross).

 

Image from Jennifer at Z's the Day Photography and Photo Design

Chick Chat with 202 Magazine

You all know I love to talk about my chickens. (Yes, I know it can be a bit extreme). Imagine my excitement when I had the opportunity to share my girls with 202 Magazine - a local magazine for the East Valley (Phoenix) area. 

202 Magazine did a feature on raising urban chickens for their April issue. Doesn't Flo look beautiful on the cover? The editor, Sondra Barr, and photographer Mark Susan spent a morning at our house getting to know our girls. We had such a great time! However, my normally friendly chickens were super camera shy and it was quite the ordeal which involved my tackling Flo (no chickens were harmed during the photo shoot) just to get her in the cover shot. Dirt and chicken poop all over my jeans - so embarrassing.

Raising backyard chickens has become quite popular in the past few years, especially here in the East Valley so we were excited to share our experiences with others who may have an interest in taking the chicken plunge.

You can view the entire April issue here.

Meet the Carters

I recently had the honor of designing some t-shirts for the lovely Carter family. The Carters are in the process of adopting a little boy from Ghana and are selling the t-shirts in an effort to raise funds for the adoption fees.  You can read more about their adoption journey here.

 I have a soft spot in my heart for adoption and have really enjoyed getting to know the Carters and following along on their journey.

How adorable is this little guy? He is the big brother to be and recently got together with his buddies to show off their Ghana tees with this fun photo shoot. The tees have been a hit and I am sending off a second shipment to the Carters tomorrow. They will likely go fast so if you'd like to support this sweet family and score a stylin' tee for your little one, click here.

Be sure to follow the Carter's blog for updates on their journey as well as a massive dose of inspiration and creativity (did I mention that Sarah Carter is an amazing artist?).

Photos by Trevor Hoehne Photography

LGO Indie Shop Fest

I have fallen off of the face of blogging earth and I apologize. I have been busy with so many things but promise to be back more often with a brand new look to my blog (hopefully in the next day or two!).

Those of you who live in the Phoenix area must check out LGO Indie Shop Fest on April 6th. This shopping & socializing event will feature more than 30 Local Artists, Crafters, and Designers featuring Unique Handmade Art and Treasures.  

If you are working all day, break for lunch, visit La Grande Orange Grocery or Postino Wine Cafe,  and then stop by for worthwhile browsing & shopping. 

They Didn't Hatch

This was the week we've been waiting for! Our little chicks should have arrived in the mail today. But they didn't.

The folks over at My Pet Chicken called to let me know that the four breeds we chose didn't all hatch on the same day as they had hoped. (You can read about the breeds we chose and why we chose them here). If we want to wait on the four breeds we picked out, they won't ship until May 2nd. And even that is iffy. We need them much sooner than that so we can have them out of their brooder and into the coop before the scorching summer heat sets in. 

I'm going to call the helpful people at My Pet Chicken tomorrow to see if we can switch our order around a bit so we can get our newest girls in the next couple of weeks. Keeping my fingers crossed because I am so ready for my chick fix!

The Chicken Bath. Seriously.

Yesterday I did something I never thought I'd do. I bathed my chicken. Seriously.

My dear Flo has really fluffy tail feathers and I noticed that they were getting dirty (I'll spare you the details). I did some googling and found that it was possible and recommended to give the chicken a bath in this case. It was a gorgeous 80 degree day so I figured it was a good time to tackle it.

I was super nervous. I assembled a small army to help me thinking that bathing a chicken would be like bathing a cat. I fully expected chicken claws and beaks to be flying. Flo seriously surprised me. As soon as I put her in the warm water, she relaxed and didn't fight it at all. (The water looks especially dirty as she had given herself a dust bath right before her "real" bath.) Once we washed her up, we put her in another bucket of clean, warm water to rinse her. 

The bath was only the first part of the challenge. I had to blow dry her feathers so she wouldn't get a chill and get herself all dirty again.  This part made me nervous as well but the sweet girl just sat in my lap and let me dry her. I think she actually enjoyed it.

It took forever to get her dry but we finally did. She seemed to be happy with her newer, cleaner self and I was relieved that I didn't completely traumatize her. The other girls were filled with curiosity and I think maybe a little jealous that Flo looked so sparkly clean. 

(PS - our baby chicks arrive in the mail next week! Stay tuned...)