Yep, I notice I missed the new year. In fact the whole first month. But we’ll gloss past that and onto the whatcha-been-up-to bits. My new years always begin with a little too much new stuff to find homes for and a little much cold weather. This year was no exception. Shortly after that adjustment we have the kidlet’s birthday mid-month and this year she turned 15. Which means, where we live, she can now get a learner’s permit to drive (which she did). I’m not quite sure how I got from the sleepy little pixie of Way Back Then to the current version but I suspect there’s magic involved somewhere.

In the crafty world, the post holiday season is always oddly busy for me as folks come load up on the beads and goodies they’ll need for spring designs and their own collections. This means I am spending a pile of time making new batches of the Big Canes for the year. The monarch-style butterfly above is one of the first up. I got smart this time around and cajoled the kidlet into helping out so that I could photograph as we go and I could use the resulting photos to write up the tutorial, finally.