Merry Christmas from Bundles of Blossoms

Merry Christmas to all of you!!!

I am so thankful for......

~My family

~My friends

~My readers

~My health

~My home

~My little village

~My life

I am very thankful to live in a little country village, in the Midwest, that looks almost like this picture does when the snow is on the ground.

Yes, where I live, is picture perfect.

I also love that pink Christmas trees make me giddy!

What a year 2011 has been and 2012 is only to be better.

God bless all of you and your families.

&

Merry Christmas!!!
Toodle-loo

Nikki Pugh

My Day, Friday~One Hot Mess

1. I have been sick this week.

2. I couldn't sleep at night either.

3. I coughed.

4. I cried and often.

5. I got really crabby.

6. I coughed and then I cried some more, because I was so tired of coughing.

7. I have peed through my pajama pants several times from coughing way to hard for any one human.
.
8. I had big babies, been pregnant multiple times, and all of this equals coughing & wetting ones self.

9. I'm hoping you're still reading after my description of the absence of any sort of modesty that I have displayed through this blog post.

10. Did I mention I have been sick this week?

11. Now, it gets better.

12. My husband Charlie got sick, too.

13, Yes, I said my husband got sick, too, and then came home from work sick.

13. Oh, my my my.........

14. Never ever a good combo. Mom's and dad's should never be sick at the same time.

15. He hasn't been pregnant multiple times.

16. So he gets to stay in the same clothes all day.

17. I don't.

18. I have showered 119 times in 4 days, because I have been pregnant multiple times and I have had a bad cough.

19. I didn't shave my facial hair either during my coughing spree this week.

20. That's just how sick I was.

21. I had a vision today as I passed by a huge mirror in our home.

22. My vision made me sad.

21. My vision was of my near future.

22. So I had to share it with Charlie and now with you.

23. I am going to be that smelly and hairy faced tiara wearing grandma that my grandkids don't want to visit.

24. I don't blame my grandkids, that aren't born yet.

25. Grandma loves you anyways and I understand.

26. I scared myself when I passed by that mirror today.

27. I need to get better and fast.

28. I am one hot mess.

Toodle-loo
Nikki Pugh

So did you know I loved to sew?

I love to sew!

It relaxes me and time flies when I am creating.

Did you know this already?

I drift off to some other world once fabric & scissors are in my hands. Then put me behind a sewing machine and forget it. I am oblivious to anything else going on around me.

I love to sew!


So, recently, my aunt showed up with the cutest little charm necklace for me.

Can you guess what it is?

It's a little fancy schmancy sewing machine charm necklace and I am in love.

It's sparkly and has a little button dangling off the tiny sewing machine. It also has a rhinestone, a pearl, and some spools.

I have worn it every single day this week.

It just screams-

"Nikki Pugh!!!"

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

Again, something that I own has a little story behind it, which makes me love it even more.

Toodle-loo
Nikki Pugh



These are a few of my favorite things.....handmade pillows, babies, and facial hair remedies~

So this should be a

"My day, Friday"

post, but it's not going to be.

Would you like to know why?

I have been really busy running a

"Kick off to Christmas Giveaway"

 over at my

Bundles of Blossoms Facebook Fan Page.

The giveaway ends at 9:00 am Friday morning on December ninth and it has been so busy over there.

I love it!

I am so anxious to see who wins!

I am using random.org to pick the winner, too.

(I have secretly wanted to use this company for a long time, because I am nerdy like that.)

I can hardly stand the wait!

I am giving away the

"Crazy Daisy"

Handmade Country Pillow.

See~

This pillow is made of all vintage fabric.

I fell in love with it over and over again when I was making it.

The pillow lives up to it's name, too.

Every petal is an odd size, the stitches are fun & wild, and the color combo is spot on!

Yet, it all works, somehow.

It is imperfectly perfect-just like me.

Maybe it's perfectly imperfect.

Hmmmmm.....I am not sure how to state that......

All I know is this-

Perfect is boring-that's just my own take on life, of course.

So, while I could have packed this blog post full of interesting stories such as.........

1. how I left my water bottle in my vehicle for 3 hours, the other day, and I took the coldest drink of my life.

 I think the cold water made me quit breathing for 3-27seconds (I'm not sure of the time frame, because my brain froze-I think.)

2. that I read in a magazine the other day that if you smear vaseline on your eyelashes that you will encourage growth and thickness. I miss my youth, alright. I miss my thick, long, and full eyelashes.......(sigh)

No I haven't done it.......well........okay.....can you keep a secret?

Let's just say that I have had shimmery eye areas for five days now, but only right before I go to bed do I smear it on.

I just didn't want anyone to know.

I'm sure you understand this secret that I am asking you to keep.

 I'll get back to you on this important matter, of course.

Now, if vaseline would only make my stupid chin hairs, that I hate, disappear forever-only in my dreams.....

Why can't you have magical powers on that area of my face, Vaseline?

Why?

Why?

Why?

Ya, I am talking to you, Vaseline, you weird container of magical jelly goodness.

3. A family friend of mine, from our little country town, was on Lifetime the other day on the show-

-One born every minute-

Her name is Kelley and her husbands name is Chris.

I love this look of hers-how cute!

Here is the link to the show.

Just click HERE to watch it.

You just have to watch it!


It was so incredible to watch.


Kelley and her husband Chris live in Columbus, Ohio and delivered their child in this hospital that works with Lifetime to put on this awesome show.

Let me warn you.

You will laugh!

You will cry.

Then you will cry, again.

....then you'll cry, laugh, then cry a bit more, and then smile........

Then you'll want to reach through your television or computer monitor and hug Kelley, Chris, and beautiful baby Vaughn.

Trust me!

Then the show will end and you'll be crying with happy tears rolling down your face, but with a great big smile.

It moves me every single time that I watch it.

I still get emotional even writing about it, today, and it aired Tuesday night on December 6th.

I love happy endings.

Who doesn't?

Toodle-loo

Nikki Pugh

My Day, Friday-In training & Etsy Baby!

Howdy Howdy Howdy~

Remember when I had time to blog daily?

Remember when I made time to blog two or three times a week?

Well, just now, I looked over at the sidebar for my blog topics and I am noticing that the "My day, Friday" posts are all neatly lined up and in order.

This, point blank, shows me that I am only blogging once a week now with my rambling gibberish and I need to step up my game.

Once a week!

That's it!

That's all I have been blogging!

Are you curious, as to why, I have dropped down to once a week without even realizing it?

I have been making pillows and trying to build my Etsy Shop which is hard.

It's hard to explain to people how online selling works and that's not even beginning to describe how being a seller on Etsy works, but it's a lot of work. It's so easy to be buried in the pages. First you have to have awesome pics, which I struggle with. It helps to have a decent amount of inventory for search engines, and you really have to market yourself outside of Etsy. There is way more than what I listed, but this just gives you an idea of how hard it is to be a seller on there to the masses. I know this and I know it all takes time, but it doesn't mean it's not any less frustrating.

Thankfully I have had local orders to keep me encouraged to keep making my wacky pillows.

I have been a member, on Etsy, since 2006.

-Way back in the day before it was popular.

Way back in the day when people would ask me this question when they would get fabulous gifts from me that I didn't make.

"What's an Esty?"

Yes, I was asked "what's an Etsy" and often.

Sometime back in 2008 or 2009 I started making flower pin brooches as gifts and decided to sell them on Etsy. I sold three very quickly and then I just never sold anymore and again went on a hiatus.

I was really really really wanting out of the luxury baby business at the time, yet, not sure if the flower pin brooches would take off or even if I wanted Bundles of Blossoms to be in business anymore.

This was my time of reflection-

(Doesn't the word "reflection" make me sound like I know what I am talking about with deeper meaning or does it sound like a bunch of BS?)

I think probably the second BS option.

I just had so many steps to take to step away from the Baby biz and needed to be certain and make sure that was what I wanted.

Lot's of major changes took place in my life, too, but I had this nagging thought in my head that was this little pillow line.

It started with looking for and trying to shop for pillows that I couldn't find in the stores for myself-my own taste.

I needed more than that, too.

I wanted to not only showcase small town & country life, but to bring back the idea of my hands & mind creating a one of a kind item that meant something not only to me, but also to the customer that purchased it.

My main priority was to make sure, when I made these pillows, that the unique design and concept of the design was what sold my pillows. The durability/quality had to hold up to the idea of handmade and that there was a deeper meaning to the appliques and it wasn't just a pillow. It had to be a connection to life.

As you all know, because I have been on my soap box for many years about supporting the long lost mom & pop shop era, that it's very important to buy handmade.

I understand that we all have to purchase from the big stores to exist in our constantly changing world.

I do it.

I know.

But if you notice when you purchase something that is handmade you have all of this extra goodness going on.

1. There is connection to the designer/seller.

2. Someone actually sat down and used their hands and mind to create an original design.

3. Items that are handmade are perfectly imperfect, too. I love that. That's the charm~

There is just something so magical about buying handmade.

Handmade gifts have always been my favorite even when I was a child.

So after the Christmas season settles down and life gets back to "normal" I will be calmly working out in my studio at a calm pace, taking my time to build up my pillow inventory, and I will be back to blogging and reading the blogs I follow more than once a week.

My goal for 2012 is exactly what I mentioned above.

It's going to be my year to prepare and grow the business.

It's been a long sabbatical and it's time to get Bundles of Blossoms back on track for the long haul.

Bundles of Blossoms is such a huge part of who I am, but sometimes, as in life, it's just time to change things up a bit.
This past 2011 year has been kind of like my business has been sprinting kind of like runners do-super fast and at the end the runner is winded and can't catch her breath, but loves the exhilaration!

So 2012 is going to be training for long distance run. It's kind of a slow steady pace while still being able to carry on a great conversation, yet, knowing that there are many more miles ahead.


Toodle-loo
Nikki Pugh