every little thing

(Helpful Hint: Hang in there through my mindless blathering 'cause there is a giveaway at the end of this post!) 

Most all of my fabric has now been sorted, folded and stacked.  (The big section on the lower left still needs some work, but we'll get to that eventually.)  At least you can see everything. and though it may not be so spectacular by traditional crafty-blog standards, when I look at this shelf I'm like, "Holy crap, that's a lot of fabric!"  Where did it all come from?  80% thrusting & yard sales, 10% hand-me-downs, 10% Fabric store coupon day.  I don't buy expensive fabric, I just can't.  My sensibilities will not let me, no matter how pretty the pattern.  I see a $$-a-yard price tag and I just laugh,' I don't THINK so.'  I'm not putting down the folks who do splurge on the good stuff, not at all.  You go ahead with your bad-self.  It's  just not my thing. 

Here is breakdown of my STASH:

   
   
   

The above photo collection was inspired by this lovely blog post about an equally yummy yarn stash.

Mostly I just want to get some sewing projects going so I can make room for more fabric, therefore continuing the cycle and feeding my addiction.   Know something else that can help?  A GIVEAWAY!  Oh yeah!  What a perfect way to get some space on the shelves, allow innocent blog readers to be my enablers, and make me feel like a good, charitable person all at the same time.  Genius.   I actually love doing blog-giveaways.  It is also pretty awesome that I participated in a giveaway on the Marmee Craft Blog recently and was a chosen WINNER!  Wow, I don't think I'd ever won anything online before, and I was just tickled pink.  Her blog and shop are one of my faves, and you really should drop in if you have the chance.

OK, down to business.  Anyone want of piece of my stash?  Just leave a comment in this post, preferably picking a style or two of fabric that are your ultimate favorites.  (And be sure to leave an email Addy or link so I can contact you if you win!)  I'll leave the comments open and choose three, random winners next Monday.  Each chosen one will receive all the lovely fabric bits that I can shove into a large bubble mailer.  Sound fun?  Then please play along! And, as always, thank you all for reading and participating on my blog.  It ain't much, but I'm kinda fond of it.

(Psst.  Comments are closed now, but oh my goodness!  What a ton of responses, I'm speechless!  Look out for the drawing of the names later this evening, when I'm back from the Post Office , and supper is over.  You know how it is.)

Studio Part II (Dance Remix)

(Please Note:  All photographs in this post are included only as random filler and do not actually have anything to do with the written text.  Thank you for your time.)

Spring Break!  Whoo! 
We keep saying that over and over, and it makes it feel more like were in Cancun.  Seriously though, lots of stuff getting done over here and it's very exciting.  With the help of my lovely sister, we have managed to completely rearrange the second story of the house, which means I now have my VERY OWN STUDIO.  This is a tremendously big deal for me, I can't even tell you.  I started sharing a room with Mike, and it worked out for a while.  It may have been doable longterm if it was just me and my handmade-shop.  But, once the miniature shop started to take off, the stacks and piles of stuff grew and grew, and I added more stock and the piles swelled and heaved, toppled and crashed.  Not a pretty picture.  It became pretty apparent that no amount of clever storage and organizing was going to help the situation.  It was either give up the biz, or move it out. 

Organizing this move was no small task, we have three bedrooms and one of them is so small, I'm sure most people have closets that are bigger.  (Our house is almost 100 years old...what are you gonna do?)  The itty-bitty room started as Max's nursery, but his toy collection quickly out grew it.  Then it became Mike's studio room for a while.  Now, sadly, it is our bedroom.  With room for a bed and a small dresser - and that's it.  Sort of like their bedroom in Barefoot in the Park, except you don't have to step over the bed to open the closet.  ( I just love that movie to pieces.)  Happily, the other two rooms are quite spacious, and one of them is ALL MINE!!!  It's so amazing, I mean, I spend so much time making, and packing orders, now I have a bright, uncluttered room to do it in.  Heaven.  I will share pictures very soon, but you have to keep in mind there is still much to be done.  I still need to thrift some pretty accent and storage pieces, decorate the walls, and the whole room desperately needs to be painted.  It's the only room in whole house that we haven't painted since we bought the place (over 7 years ago) so....yeah, it really needs it.  I'm having a hard time picking a color, too!  Should I just repaint it a nice, crisp white?  Is that best for working a creating?  A large part of me is screaming PINK!   Paint it PINK!  Then again, a light mustard yellow would be quite nice.  Hmm, decisions.  When I narrow it down, I'll post my top three colors and maybe you all can help me out.  I'm not planning the painting project until the end of April, after Spring Bada-Bing is over.  Yep, Kristina and I got in the show, which means we have a lot of crafting to do these next few weeks, and that's good!  I've been missing the crafty part of myself lately. 

Easter '08

Max is one lucky bunny.  Check out this year's Easter loot:

Fist, look at that killer, vintage basket.  Sweet, huh?  Found that thrifting last week, and I quickly repossessed it after the day's festivities were done.  And the goodies, oh my.  This is what happens when your parents are poor communicators and forget to tell each other that they already bought Easter basket stuff.   Daddy-bunny said that the new Wii game, Cooking Mama, was really a present for me, too (and it's really so fun!  I highly recommend it!)   Besides that, there were many fun Kidrobot toys, Mr. Sketch scented markers, Hotwheels, and just a touch of candy.  Pretty much the best Easter Basket ever.  And the whole day was perfect.  Family fun and good food.  Just as it should be.   

I hope everyone else had a happy weekend, too!  And is anyone else super-stoked about Spring Break?!  The weather here is supposed to get nice and balmy soon, the kiddo is home from school which I LOVE, (and how silly is that?  He goes to preschool for a measly 3 hours a day and I still hate it when he's gone.)  Anyway, I approaching the coming week with renewed vigor.  There is much fun to be had, and I can't wait.

This is not just a tribute to Bill Murray, who is amazing, but more specifically, a tribute to his "It just doesn't matter" speech from the feature film Meatballs, circa 1970-something.   (Meatballs is one of those movies I watched so many times I actually wore-out the VHS tape.)  This is the best motivational speech of all time.  Bar none. 

It's reminds me of  the old "don't sweat the small stuff" mantra, except more realistic and self deprecating.  Love it.  Own it.  I didn't post on my blog all week:  it just doesn't matter.  I didn't even do the "Hero" post last Friday: it just doesn't matter.  You can't see the floor in Max's room due to the glistening layer of hot wheels: it just doesn't matter.  I ate an entire box of Girl scout cookies: it just doesn't matter.

It just doesn't matter.

Anyway, you gotta love Bill Murray.  No, really.  It's a requirement for my blog, you have to love him.  If not, then don't let the cyber door-hit your ass on the way out. 

At the EMPORIUM

MARCH 17th + 18th Only!

Here's the deal:

Buy any item at the Emporium (individual miniatures, baking cup, samplers, everything!) and get an equal or lesser valued item free of charge!  Yay!  Good for up to 3 items per person, 'cause what's better than 'buy one get one free"?  Buy THREE get THREE free!    

How to do it:

Browse the shop, choose an item to buy and put it in your cart,  jot down the name of your chosen *free* item.   It can be anything at all, as long as it's of equal or lesser value as the paid item.  During the checkout process, please type your chosen *free* item in the 'note to seller' section during checkout.  Complete payment, and you're all done!  And, if you have a question, you can always email me anytime : abelstudio [AT] gmail.com

*You are welcome to buy as many goodies as your heart desires, but please, only three free items per person.  Thank you!

Thanks for participating in the sale, everyone!  What fun, I love a good BOGO, myself.  And if you missed it, don't worry!  There will be another one when I finish up the *new* shop, (which is really exactly the same as the old shop, just in a different place.) 

Put 'em in a body-bag

I was wrapping up an order from Out Like Bandits the other day, while watching the end of The Karate Kid on Netflix (Instant view = instant friend.)  It occurred to me, as I was tearing up during the dramatic ending, that The Karate Kid is possibly just the best movie of all time.  Really.  I adore everything about that move, and I fall in love with it all over aging every time I watch it.  Then, it also occurred to me that I have yet to mention the whole "Out Like Bandits" thing over here at the blog.  So, yeah, I have another shop going on now.  It's a collaborative effort by me and my little sister to share some of our thrifting love with the world.  It may seem silly to have all of these separate shops, but it's no more trouble to have three than it is to have one, not really.  Plus, I think it keeps things more aesthetically organized and easier to navigate.  Krissy came up with the snazzy name (which I should stop mentioning so much, because I may have to pay her royalties every time I use it, ) but the banner in the shop is still in-progress.  I think the current one, though cute with the old picture of us, has a somewhat incestuous vibe when paired with our little slogan.  Just a tad too V.C. Andrews, for me.  We hope to update often, I have such and abundance of vintage goodies to share.  I also decided to tie up all outgoing parcels in that jaunty black&white gingham ribbon (another fabulous, vintage, thrift item!  There are 25 yards left on the  roll, so I hope it will last for a little while, anyway!

Boring shop talk, I know.  Sorry!  Been busy around here lately.  Just wanted to mention that if you've been eying anything over at the Emporium  lately,  I'm planning for a big, first time ever, SALE coming up soon!  Keep checking the blogorama for more details.  I'm shooting to have the details ready by next Monday.   My poor studio shop has been all but abandoned lately, (though a few leftover V-Day creatures have been marked down, if you are interested.)  I have applied to the Richmond Craft Mafia's Spring BaDa Bing Craft Show, and I should hear back from them soon!  I did this show last year and it was such fun,  I hope am accepted, it's just what I need to get  back into the handmade-spirit.  Fingers-crossed!   

Buon giorno!

Welcome to Max's Italian Ice Shop!   The Owner looks a little sad, perhaps becuase it is still Winter and there are not many customers? 

I would say that Max made this all himself, but the dormer might tip you off that Dad helped just a little.  However, it was Max's decision to paint the red, green and white stripes on the roof, AND to add the cardboard garden....you know I loved that!  After Mike fashioned the mail slot in the front door, I drew on a few cardboard scraps to make him some "letters.'  Max looked at ithem skeptically, and said, "OK, but where is my movie-mail?  The one with the red envelope?" 

Oh, the times, they are a changing.      

The Strongest Man - in the World!

Ok, this is pretty literal take on the whole 'hero' thing, seeing that Artie is an actual Superhero, and all.  Still, he deserves this honor, and I'm proud so say that we are all big Artie-fans.  The Adventure's of Pete and Pete is an all-time favorite with me, and my brother and sister...Mike too, for that matter. It hails from early-nineties, Nickelodeon fame.  It has a pretty solid cult-following, and it's been called ground-breaking, and 'before it's time.'  I'm not really sure what that means, but it has always stuck with me.  Then, a few years back, Nick finally released seasons 1 and 2 on dvd and I pretty much fell in love with the show all over again, and especially with Artie, the best super hero ever.

The scene where Artie battles a bowling ball is Max's favorite. I can't tell you how cool I think it is that he loves this show, too. I guess I shouldn't be, but I'm always surprised when Max connects with the things that I loved as a child. And I can tell that he's really into it, and not just because he sees how much I enjoy it.  You can tell by his uncontrollable belly laughs, and his constant requests to watch the dvd over and over. He actually said he wanted to be Artie for Halloween this year! Be still my heart.  Whenever I hear people talk about wanting to have kids, but being worried how they will turn out, or thinking they won't have anything in common with them, I feel for them because I used to think those thing, too.  But, I have now come to observe that kids are pretty much tiny, concentrated versions of the people they spend the most time with (mum and dad, usually.)  So, you better like yourself, because that is what you're gonna get, the good and the bad, all condensed into a tiny, amazing and terrifying little being.  And, don't be afraid to expose them to things that you like, not just things they are supposed to like.   Sure, most kids go through a Teletubbies phase (or something of that mind-numbing equivalence) but you don't have to dumb things down for kids all of the time.  Don't assume that they won't like what you do, or that it will be too far over their heads.  Children catch on quick, and their busy brains can grasp far more information than we give them credit for.   That doesn't go for just t.v. shows either.  Books, hobbies, music, crafting, food.....it all works the same way.

Artie is just one of the many ways that Max and I connect, and I know it's just a silly t.v. show character, but I don't care.  The truly important things in life usually turn out to be very silly, indeed.  We love you, Artie!

Makin' Hay (while the sun shines)

 

Back in January, during a little warm spell, I got Mike to install a retractable clothesline in our backyard.  We hadn't had one for a while since the make-shift one I had tied between two trees (over 3 years ago) had finally slackened to the point of uselessness.  Then we cut one of the trees down, and that was the end of that.  I love drying laundry outside, and I was so happy to have a proper line, one that could easily be hidden away when I didn't need it.

And then...

Not a week later, our dryer started to make a little squeaking sound.  Nothing a few good kicks wouldn't fix though, right?  Nope, the squeaking got louder, more shrill and then a clanging-knocking noise added to it.  Finally, the heating element stopped working too, and we pronounced the machine dead.  But don't cry, it was old and had a good run.  I also couldn't help thinking that it died on purpose.  Staring at me through the laundry room window, hanging clothes on the line, smiling in the sun.  "I'll show you.  You wanna dry your laundry outside?  You go right ahead." 

And I did.  And it was fine...at first.  Then, it got cold.  And humid.  And rainy.  And the laundry mountain grew, threatening to erupt.   And one day, I had a manic realization, "HOW AM I GOING TO FELT SWEATERS WITHOUT A DRYER??!"  Almost hyperventilated over that one.  But, it's been several weeks now, and we are still sans dryer.  I'm really trying to make it work, for several reasons: #1.) No one in our family has the type of job that requires clean, presentable work clothes.  So, there is never any "...hurry up and dry my work shirt." scenarios to deal with.  #2.)  I am eco-challenged in many ways, and it's hard for me to make small daily changes without being sort of forced into them.  I would never NOT use the dryer most of the time if it's just sitting there, in fine working order.  I'm too lazy.  But, if it's simply not an option,  I can easily live without it.  Plus, I'm more frugal now with the washing because I'm not lugging those clothes outside in 40 degree weather unless they are good and dirty.  I'm also getting rid of more old clothing that we don't really need, mainly so I I'll have less to wash.  Oh, and at some point I also ran out of laundry detergent and began making my own.  Just Liquid soap and some baking soda.  Seems to work just fine.  I still plan to use bleach now and then, just to make sure certain things are throughly sparkling and clean (ahem, Mike's socks.)  The last, sort of strange, reason, #3.)  If I can get used to living without a dryer, that will free up a large space in the laundry room, and I can put the refrigerator there!!  This is sort of a bid deal for me because, as I may have mentioned, my kitchen is practically microscopic.  It's a teeny, old galley style kitchen and the fridge sticks out of the end by the door, and it just eats up the whole room.  I hate to complain about our lovely house that I'm ever so grateful for, but......it's just a wimpy kitchen, what can I say? 

So that's my game plan.  Ditch the dryer, use my Mom's machine to get my sweater felting fixes in, and enjoy a (slightly) bigger cooking space.  I'll be sure to let you all know how it works out because, frankly, I am envisioning any number of mishaps that could arise from all of this!

I am a tad worried about the hot, windless,  humid-as-all-get-out Virginia summer that's headed this way.  What if the clothes just hand there for days and never dry, or possibly get even wetter?  You have no idea how humid it gets here.  Really.

Ohhhhh, boy.

Brand Spanking New

Lots of new items are in the Emporium now.  I've had several of these miniatures, including th birthday picks, laying around for ages.  I must try to improve my turn-around speed of when I receive new items to when I actually load them onto the shop!  If only there were more hours in the day.....

You may recognize the sculls from the Halloween mix, but I decided they were so clever they really ought to be sold on their own as well.  Death by cupcake, ha ha!  I do a lot of mixing, jumbling and sorting with these miniatures, as I am often not happy with them 'as is'.  I like offering specific colors, styles, etc.  That's how I like to be able to shop, and I hope that is something that my customers would appreciate too.  I've also been doing a lot of price restructuring, upping the amount of minis per set to be more conducive to heavy crafting and cupcake decorating.  Selling such small sets as I was before was pretty inefficient for me, and not such a great deal for the customer either.  I learn as I go, that's all I can do.

Over the last few months, I've spent a lot of time researching and finding new wholesale distributors and importers.  NOT an easy task, I assure you.  Especially since I'm picky about the items I want to carry.  There a loads  and loads of novelty decorations that I'm sure would sell well and are pretty cute, but I just don't think fit in the Emporium.  There are thousands of cartoons and licensed characters items (Dora, Sponge Bob, Disney, Bob the Builder, and on and on.)  But, when I started this shop, it was truly out of a love for these retro style, vintagey miniatures that were getting harder and harder to find.  I have even had to convince one company to continue selling a certain miniature, one of my most popular-selling items (can you guess which one?!)    It was discontinued one day and I refused to accept it, I pretty much begged the manager to keep selling them to me, and in a way, I feel responsible that they are still even out there!   It still gets tricky sometimes, I have to keep reminding myself that just because something is not my particular taste, that isn't a good enough reason to dismiss it.  It's funny how some of the most popular items I sell really don't appeal to me that much.  You just never can tell.   

I have so many ideas and dreams for this little shop, that I can get frustrated with my lack of time and how slowly I have to take everything.  That's just how it is when you are a one-gal operation, but branching out and hiring help is just too overwhelming an idea or me to grasp right now.  I'd rather be hunting for new things, and I have found even more good stuff lately!  I've discovered some to-die-for baking cups, and a new promotional item that I'm just dying to get made up.  I'm never at loss for new ideas, that for sure.  Time, however, is another story.