In which I sum up our month apart.
I'm back! It ended up taking me a bit longer than I expected to wrap up the manuscript for my new book, but I'm happy to report that all forty two thousand some-odd words have finally been delivered to my publisher. In a couple of weeks Kimberly Davis and I will be getting together to shoot the second half of photos for the new book. This time around, we'll be focusing on the book's sewing and craft projects AND tackling the book's cover.
I had originally expected to style the cover and chapter openers in a similar composition to the photos from The Natural Beauty Solution, but now that the book has actually been written, I'm not so sure. This book ended up being very different from the last. It's warmer, more personal, and about twice the size! Even the title ended up being much different than expected. For the umpteenth time my mind hooks on to the similarities between writing books and having kids. You just don't know who will show up until they are finally here.
Speaking of having children, those of you that follow my Mama Diary will have already heard the sad news. We ended up losing my last pregnancy shortly after New Year's. I have a lot of feelings about that – like a whole lot. But I'm trying to stay strong by remembering that there are many paths to motherhood, and I haven't walked all of them yet. There are still avenues that are left unexplored, so I'm not giving up hope of having a second little miracle just yet. Meanwhile, I take all the joy I can find from CC, my wonderful little boy.
This blog wasn't entirely idle during my break. When my brain started to go blank on book writing I took short breaks to work on revamping the design of MMG. She's got a brand new banner and new fonts, all of which are intended to give this old girl a more modern vibe. I also changed my tag line after doing some thinking on what I really wanted this blog to be about – ideas for a happily handmade life!
I have some really fun posts coming up, so stay tuned. My goal is to share two or three posts every week in 2017, and think even harder and more carefully about which brands I partner with. I want MMG to be a resource for creative everyday living. Natural living is another passion of mine so there will be plenty of health, wellness, and DIY beauty goodness to come along with tons of new recipes for the kitchen.
By the way, this blog turns TEN in July. It's been through several incarnations, the biggest being the launch of Mary Makes Dinner in 2011. Two years ago I re-branded the blog as Mary Makes Good to expand it's focus to include the creative parts of my life that exist outside of the kitchen. Last year was also the first year the blog turned a real profit, and I have found myself going in to the new year as a full-time freelance blogger, author and DIY recipe formulator.
That's right! No more day job. I'm still writing for The Natural Beauty Workshop and acting as the blog's editor, and overseeing FNWL's social media, but it's only part-time and on a freelance basis. Big changes.
Thank you so much for being a part of this journey, and for supporting this blog which lives at the heart of everything I do.
XO, MH