every little thing

This one's for me

Yes, I'm keeping this one too. 

And, thankfully, there is a Tom Petty lyric that perfectly describes my feelings about this skirt, and in a strange way, how I truly feel about my blog as well:

"This one's for me, this one's for me
Not for anyone else, I need it you see.
I threw all I had into the sea
Now I want a little back, this one's for me."

Thanks, Tom.  You say it better than I ever could.

Random Pictures from around the house this morning

The toys are slowly, but surely, covering every inch of the house....even the door molding.

....and the lamp chains. 

(Don't hate me because I thrifted  the coolest vintage fabric EVER.  If it makes you feel better, it smelled reaaaally bad before I washed it.)

Ikea comforter = love.

Studio Update!

I'll be listing some post-Pile leftovers in the shop Wednesday evening, hopefully by 8pm eastern time.  I'll be including  what I have left of the printed slip cover-ups (and that will be the last of them for this  season!)  Also, there will be plenty of gnome pins and magnet sets.  Maybe a few more surprises, you never know with me.   Also, the previously mentioned strawberries may not be disappearing so soon after all.  As luck would have it, the very day that I wrote the post about my plan to retire them from my shop, I was contacted to by no less than 2 big-fancy magazines to send samples for possible inclusion in their holiday gift guides.  Exciting, strange and, well.....sort of crazy, really.  Go figure.  So, the berries are back for good!  On etsy and on homegrown market, another up-and coming on line marketplace that is responsible for shoving my little berries into the public spotlight.  Strange things are afoot over here in A. Bel-land. 

So,  shop update coming up, then it's time for a work-break.  More recipe posting (I've neglected the recipe box) , pictures of Syd the jungle cat (he's getting HUGE!), housekeeping (it never ends) and some good summer-fun with my Max (who is also getting huge these days.  Who said he could grow up so fast?!  He can practically read now....well, he can read key words like "Arby's" as in "can we get cheese sticks from A-R-B-Y-S pleeeaaase???" 

It's just not summer-time without a greasy Arby's fried cheese stick (and don't forget the slurpee.)

To the Pile and Back

We're back, and boy was it fun!  The Charm City Craft Mafia really put on an awesome show, and I was shocked that it was there very first one!  They must have promoted their little fanny's off, because the place was hoppin' and stayed busy just about the whole time!  And the location?  Drop dead gorgeous.  An old, crumbling church that was just a stunning back drop for all the fantastic indie craftiness. 

Sorry for the sub-par pictures.  I neglected to bring my tripod, and I refuse to use the flash.  But, doesn't our booth look fantastic?  Amber made the beautiful banner (the pic doesn't do it justice.) 

Good times, but man, those shows sure can be exhausting.  I spent most of today wrapped in my new Ikea comforter I bought in DC on the way home!  And boy, is ever good to be home! There's loads of work for me to catch up on, orders to ship, dishes to do.....but I'm going back to bed!  Thanks so much, everyone, for the well wishes and nice comments!  And even though NOBODY redeemed the blog-coupon AGAIN (sniff...) I'm still going to keep issuing them, darn it.  And the next one maaaaay be for The Crafty Bastards show in DC in September (if we get in, fingers crossed!)

Baltimore! (or bust.)

I'm pulling an all-nighter getting ready for the show.  I will be leaving early tomorrow in order to miss that famous D.C. area traffic.  I should be back next week with pictures and stories and all that good stuff, I just wanted to sneak in a little "blog-buddy coupon" in before it was too late!  So PLEASE print out (or just mention the coupon) to me at the show if you can make it!!!

What is a gnome pin?  (you might be asking.)  Well, it's basically a wearable version of the gaudy cupcake toppers that I sell in the Emporium.  They are Guardian Gnomes, something I've been meaning to put together for a while.

I even put goofy saying on the back of the cards about how the gnomes watch over and protect you.  Yes, I am a dork.  I also made super-cue magnet sets with them too.  Packaged in tiny Tera cotta pots.  All of these will also be in the Studio next week (Wednesday-ish), if you can't make it out to Baltimore. 

Another surprise project I have for the show are these beachy-type cover ups with nautical printed designs:

These are made from thrifted slips that I dyed, then screen-printed.  I used to wear vintage slips as beach cover-ups waaaay back in the day, and I never had much luck when I tried to dye them.  A while back, I found this lovely gal Dottie Angel who was doing BEAUTIFUL things with old slips, and it inspired me to give the whole dying-thing another try.  After some help from other bloggers, I finally got the hang of it and sort of got addicted.  I had a giant pile of the slips and I though, "I wonder if you can screen print on nylon?".  My hubs, Mike, manages a screen printing shop, so he hooked me up with the proper ink (which came with a lengthy lesson about catalysts and heat settings....snooze...)  But, I'm ever so grateful for his help, because I really like how they turned out.  Very simple, very bright and sunny.  They have a strange, pirate-like quality that I shouldn't like....but yet I really do.  I can't explain it.  Oh, and I was also heavily inspired by an old seventies gem that I've had stuck in my head for months now: Brandy, by Looking Glass.  The refrain goes a little something like this:

"Brandy, you're a fine girl" (you're a fine girl)
"What a good wife you would be" (such a fine girl)
"But my life, my love and my lady is the sea"

(dooda-dit-dooda), (dit-dooda-dit-dooda)

You can also listen to the whole song on a very creepy website  by clicking this link here.   Have I scared off all of my readers yet?  I told you guys, I'm totally nutso.

And, for once, I'm even keeping one for ME (shocking, eh?)  And it's the most pirate-ish one of all:

Well, ahoy there.

Happy weekend to you all,  or as Captain Quint would say, "here's to swimmin' with bow-legged women."

Order(s) Up

Photographic proof that I really have, in fact, been working:

Lotsa buttons for a special shop in Paris.

A blurry pic of my leaning tower of orders from the Great Emporium  Rush of June 2007.  (There were three such towers before the it was all over!)

A few creations of mine that may be part of tutorials in up and coming craft publications.  (Me?   In a book?!?  I  know, it's crazy!  But don't pop the champagne yet or anything, nothing's final....told you I'm superstitious....)  Anyway, the top pic is a tutorial for my drawstring pouches sent to China for a new DIY book called "Slow Craft".  (I think the translation may be a bit off.  The creatures were sent to Cali for a photo shoot for a new book called Sweater Surgery, all about projects using used and felted sweaters.  I'll keep you guys updated!

Just a few strawberry orders ready to ship  out, and a gnome-y project in the works for my show next Saturday.  Speaking of the strawberries:  I may be retiring the small 3 and 6 packs from my shop.  I really love them, and they sell well....they just take FOREVER to make.  I already feel like the price is a bit high, and since they are made to order (due to the scented stuffing) it's easy for me to get behind.  So, if you want the baby berries,you may want to get 'em before they're gone.  I'll still keep the giant ones on the site, and they are also very cute,  and I will try to make more of a variety in the fabrics and colors.   Wouldn't they look cute in the plastic baskets I found thrifting last week?!  I wouldn't know, because I LOST them.  Can't find them anywhere,  I'm so unorganized....but that's another post for another day.

Daddy Day

Would it really be Father's Day (or a picnic) without the three-bean salad?  I don't think so.

Anyone else out there painfully miss their seat at the kid's table?  I know I do.  Now I have a kid sitting at the kid's table.  Whoa.   (High-five, Max.....boy's rule.) I hope all the daddy-bears out there had a lovely manly weekend! ( Mine  was out of town.  I missed you , daddy-o!  I hope you're having fun in Cali!

As luck would have it...

Just when I was in need of  a good-luck talisman, I found this beauty over on etsy:

I've been wearing it all week, and things really ARE starting to go my way.  I found this (and many other pieces I want!) over at LuLu Sparkles, a fabulous shop on Etsy.   Stunning jewelry, affordable prices, blindingly fast shipping, the sweetest packaging.....what else is their to say?  Pop over there and  have a look for yourself, I'm sure you could find your own good-luck charm too!

I'm sorry for my absence at the blog this week.  I'm trying to keep up with Emporium orders as best I can.  If any of you readers out there have made an order, thank you!!!  I'm shipping them out as fast as me and my little tape gun can go! 

I've also been working on some interesting crafty gigs that I'm dying to tell you about, but I'm sorta superstitious and I'm waiting for the right time.  I know, I'm being annoyingly-secretive.  I hate it when other blogs do that....sorry.  I can't help myself. 

And, on top of the proverbial pile, is my upcoming show in Baltimore "Pile of Craft."  (There is a big flashy link over on the left sidebar.)  Me and Amber (and possibly others) have a booth representing the Norfolk  Craft Mafia.   I've gotta pull most of my stuff together next week, so it's gonna be crunch time here soon!  I may just post a few hurdy-gurdy pics of chaos next week, but otherwise I'll probably be a bit absent. 

Also, starting next Tuesday, you can begin voting in the Fred Flair contest.  Perhaps you noticed the big, flash banner with the cute  deer plaque on the left?  Well, that's my sweet blog pal Caitlin, and she is a FINALIST in the contest, and I'm terribly excited for her!  So, please go check out her entry and vote for her, if you  can.  (Her item really is the best one, anyway!)

Happy weekend, one and all!  I have to go scream at the packaging and shipping department to get back to work.  (So, yes...I'll be yelling at myself.)

32

So, I'm finally typing my "Happy Birthday" post to my man now, and technically, his birthday is over (by about 5 minutes.)  That has been the general tone for today.  Everything has been off by 5 minutes or so; late for the party, home from work late, dinner was late.  Sure, we can celebrate more this weekend, but today was not nearly as festive as it should have been.  No present from Max and I (because he got THIS already last week.)  Maybe birthdays just get less exciting as you get older, maybe I've been too busy lately to juggle real life and parties too.  That's just not like me, to sacrifice the fun to finish the work (and the work ain't even finished...that's the sad part.)  I'm so distracted lately.  Even  at the party his employees at work threw for him today, it was outside behind the shop, and instead of focusing on Mike, I was fawning over  a wild blackberry bush in the corner.  It was huge and overflowing with berries.  I was totally entranced, "Can I come back and get these when they are ripe?  I could make so much jam!!  Wow, why didn't you ever tell me this was back here?!  Just look at all of those vines...."  Meanwhile, Mike is like "Um, hello. It's me the  Birthday-Boy over here,  can I get some attention please, or do you only acknowledge things that bear fruit?"  Not a pretty picture. 

I'm gonna make it up to him, though.  I'm sure my terrible scatterbrained behavior lately is just a phase.  I'll get over it soon, right? (gulp.)

Oh, well.  Happy Birthday anyway, sweetie.  Sorry it was kinda lame.  (Luckily, Father's Day is right around the corner, offering  a quick opportunity to redeem myself! Any great Father's Day fun-party ideas?  I'd loooove some help on this one!)

happy, happy

My sister is visiting, and that makes me VERY happy.  And so does this pie....

It's chillin' in the fridge right now, but I can already tell how wonderful it's going to be.  Thanks so much Jane's Apron (Julie), for this amazingly simple, my-new-favorite-pie, recipe.  The only thing I added was a smidge of lemon zest.  Because I'm a lemon freak, and I try to use my fancy new micro plane whenever I can find the chance. 

So, whenever my siter is here we HAVE to go thrifting.  It's just a rule.  We only went to 2 stores, but oh my lordy did we find some goodies! 

I officially own the largest supply of pink, red and black gingham now.  And I can't WAIT to  make  some limited-edition strawberries to go in those old school berry baskets.   Those gold pine cone earrings are my new favorite possession.  And the raspberry syrup?  I see some Italian sodas in the very near future......