Souvenirs, Sunshine, and Free Shipping

First off, I'd like to let everyone know about the artist promotion I've got going on over at Society6. If you click that link, you'll get free shipping until June 8, Midnight Pacific Time. Offer excludes framed art prints, stretch canvases, throw pillows with inserts, and rugs. If you happen to be lucky enough to have a Samsung Galaxy S5, they now carry covers for them. I'm so jealous of you because I have a crappy MyTouch that doesn't have any cool covers and mostly doesn't listen to anything I tell it to do.

Well, with that out of the way, I can share my takeaways from BJ's business trip. I've been obsessed with Kidrobot since I discovered it way back in high school. When he asked me if I wanted anything, I told him he needed to visit the Haight Street location. He picked up a Dunny that he said he just been released, the Keith Haring Munny that I had ogled at the Japanese store here a few months back, a small Yummy toast plush by Heidi Kenney, and a little blind box zipper pull. He got two packages of these B-Boys for free. They come with "carboard" to break on- hilarious! The zipper pull is a lemon and lime riding on a scooter with sidecar.

He mostly took pictures of seals sunning themselves on docks and plants that he found interesting. Clearly he's been with me too long, haha!

Speaking of excessively taking pictures of animals. There is a turf war going on on my balcony. First it was just the sparrows and my cats. They want to live in my fern and the mushroom bird house. Yesterday, a third gang moved in. This lady pigeon was making herself comfortable in my freshly planted alyssum. The sparrows squawked until she left, but she came back in the evening. I can't blame her for trying to move up in the world, but come on, Birds. The cats win because they have humans paying for them to live here...

The balcony is looking pretty amazing. The cats love spending the day under the cart. I had today off, and it was so nice to finally get to sit down and read. I know you're probably worried that my crazy schedule has put my off my reading game, but I'm starting book 31 of the year tonight. Since I last updated my list, I've finished the last three books of the Harper Connelly Series, the last four of the Lily Bard Series, the first five of the Aurora Teagarden Series (I read the second book in one day!), Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris, Melissa Joan Hart's autobiography, and Chelsea Handler's latest. I'd recommend all but the Melissa Joan Hart book because I think she comes off as obnoxious as her Sabrina character.

Johnstock was this past Saturday. All the bad weather went right around us the whole day until I got the last of it packed away in the car! It was really hot and humid, but sales were decent. I stayed up too late the night before making last minute preparations including cutting out these cute recipe cards.

During the show, I finished hand-embroidering the cat sleep masks I'm making. You can see a picture of the first one I made on Instagram to the right. (Follow me!) Not great photos though because they were taken with my phone. I'll have to take new ones with my actual camera. I hear the Samsung Galaxy S5 takes good pictures...

I have a deadline approaching for a show this fall so I'm trying to get some new stuff made up to include in the application. I made a Ouija Board design on Spoonflower to make into place mats. You can order this fabric for a personal cut&sew project. I'm really happy with how they turned out and hope everyone loves them as much as I do. I can't wait to order more and sew them up! I'm considering a cool napkin holder idea, I just need to decide how to execute it.

I'm off to finish enjoying the first of two consecutive days off, tomorrow is the designated catch-up day. >_<

Johnstock 2014

Hey, everyone! Don't forget to come to Johnstock tomorrow, May 31 from 10 am-4 pm. It is in the Johnson St parking lot between 28th and 29th in NE Minneapolis. I'm booth A3.

Also, I've got a design entered in the Beards and Mustaches contest over at Spoonflower. Mine is called Catstache, inspired by my own beared beauty, Annabelle Pepper. I'm going to be ordering proofs of most of my designs soon, so everything will finally be up for sale! I've got a really fun Ouija board design up for sale and I'll be selling it as already-made place mats for my Fall/Halloween stock.

Yay and Nay

It's been a while! I've been insanely busy since my last post. I started working at NBG and have had only 6 days to myself in the last four weeks. Needless to say, I'm burnt out! The last time I posted, I mentioned the craft fair I was a part of in Elk River. Well, that turned out to be a complete waste of two days I could have had off because I barely made half my money back. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I wouldn't even make $50. Definitely not my crowd. I had a couple of people who seemed to really like my terrariums, one said she'd come back and didn't, because they never do. The other just couldn't pull the trigger. I had stuff for $1 that I couldn't sell, but the playing card holders and weird oil candles on either side of me were flying off the shelves. I think I may have been in a strange invisible zone because people seemed to not even notice my booth... Lessons learned I guess.

The first full week back at the Depot for the season, I was sort of the acting team lead so I had to do price changes and whatnot. It rained (and SNOWED) the whole week. It was just awful. All the hanging and rehanging of wet, heavy baskets taken down for frost... At least it wasn't 78 carts, one with a square wheel like last year! Even last week we had to bring all the carts in and frost cloth at night. I'm crossing my fingers that the nice weather we've had this week means we're finally done with wintery weather. I bought all my plants over the course of the last couple of weeks and just today set them all into pots so they're ready to be planted.

Speaking of plants, I obviously can't get enough of them! Mother's Day weekend is one of the biggest weekends for the plant business and there is an annual plant sale out at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds. A nice customer told me about it and I had actually planned on going out there for Craftstraganza anyway, so it was meant to be. The craft show was the same-ole-same-ole that I see at every show put on by the same group, so it wasn't so  much fun. Also someone ran into mine and BJ's heels with her stroller and didn't even feel the need to apologize. Just because someone has kids, it doesn't make her exempt from manners or give her the right to feel self important. Most everyone has kids, you're not special, get over yourself! You don't see me pushing my cats around in their stroller and hitting your ankles as if they're just so gifted that you should feel blessed. Anyway, after the craft fair was a bust, we had to wait in line to get into the plant sale. Next year, I'm going on Friday because it was really picked over with a lot of stuff sold out, but I did find the star flower I was looking for! I also picked up a 4 pack of giant blooming yellow petunias, a dark purple-almost black calibrachoa, a 4 pack of dark purple salvia, and a super-duper cheap rosemary plant. Mine kicked the bucket over the winter because I decided it was too ugly to water. I wanted to find a tree, but apparently stores only carry those during Christmastime. This one says it works as bonsai so maybe I can trim it that way?

Two of the days I had off were planned. Richfield had it's citywide garage sale this past weekend and BJ finally loves sale-ing! We both took Thursday and Friday off to go to them and spend time together before he left for San Francisco Saturday morning for a business trip. (I always misspell Francisco because of my last name haha!) I had a game plan to maximize awesomeness. The first sale we went to was in Minneapolis, not part of citywide, and was not as awesome as the ad had made me expect. The main sale I wanted to go to was actually an estate sale in Bloomington, but that didn't open until 9 with no earlybirds, so we stopped at one in Richfield on the way. The Craigslist ad said it had an "antique" shopping cart. Well, I don't know about antique, people throw that word around willy-nilly, but vintage, absolutely! There was an old cart at Urban Cottage this month's sale that was out of my price range and I didn't know what I'd do with it despite the fact that I have always wanted a cart. This cart at the garage sale was $20 and I've been trying to find a storage/shelving solution for the short side of the balcony. I was considering making something out of pallets, but when I read the ad online, it dawned on me that this little cart would be perfect. It so is! There's room for the kitties to lounge underneath and I have my tree of enchantment and miscellaneous garden things in the basket. I think my tree might be a little bit dead though...

So the estate sale. First, it said it was for cat lovers. Then it advertised an item that got away from me during last year's citywide. The mutli-color stacking Pyrex mixing bowls. They were only $25 then, but BJ didn't want to spend that much. Well, after much convincing, and hours hunting, I found the complete set! And it was the same price :) This is probably what my estate sale will look like. I got two sets of white cat S&P shakers, two teeny-tiny cats, and a regular figurine. I also picked up three records: an Andy Williams Christmas album, one that has I think 6 records of songs from the fabulous 40's, and a Halloween sounds record! I found a Sanrio stationary set from Japan at another sale and picked up four big buttons for a bag I'm making at a sale from a nice lady who used to own a couple of fabric stores. She told me that she has a storage unit with a whole wall full of buttons and that I could call her if I wanted to check it out! 

The next day we stopped at another estate sale where I found a cool Singer scissors. The Seward neighborhood was having their garage sale as well, and one of the ladies from Urban Cottage was having an inventory reduction sale. I snagged some vintage ornaments for the wreath I want to make.

Sadly, the next day BJ left for a week. Our Hammy had been sick, so I was responsible for getting his antibiotics. The vet visit seemed to go well. He thought that the medicine would be a just-in-case because he seemed to be getting better. Well, one day my little boy started limping, it carried into the next day, and then I found him... You're not supposed to have favorites, but Hamm was mine. It was love at first sight when I saw that little runt. Every time I looked at him, my heart swelled with love. He was the cutest boy I've ever seen in my life with this messy hair, orange belly, and little white patch on his throat. My Patches had that exact same marking, which made it even more special. I'm still in a cloud of denial and plan to say hi to him each time I enter the living room. We had bought pepper plants just for him. It's been really hard having this happen while BJ is away. His mom was kind enough to come get him for me and take him to be cremated. My mom made a trip up to comfort me at a moments notice, which meant the world to me, but it's too quiet here without his whistles. Who's going to be in charge now, Hammy?

Life has to go on, though. I had to send off a birthday gift to my dear friend, Agent I since it is on Memorial Day and I wanted him to get it in time. Luckily he got it the day before he left for a trip and he sent me a picture of his two new totoros with the big one I made him for Christmas. When I went to Crafty Planet to pick up the fliers for Johnstock, I also bought Heidi Kenney's Sublime Stitching pattern and some fabric to re-do my sewing chair. I decided to use the pattern to make I's card. I don't really know how to embroider because I haven't learned officially, but I think it turned out well!

Finally, Johnstock is on Saturday May 31 from 10-4 in the Johnson St parking lot in NE Minneapolis. The forecast is rain, but I hope people will stop by! 

Free Shipping Worldwide

Hey, Everybody! I've got an artist promotion going on over at my Society6 shop. Just click this link to get free shipping worldwide through May 11, 2014 PST. Offer excludes framed art prints, stretched canvases, throw pillows with inserts, and rugs. I've added my new terrarium design and they have recently started carrying shower curtains- cool!

Happy Earth Day!

Happy Earth Day! Of course, everyday should be Earth day, so don't forget all those planet savings feelings when the day ends. It's been a while since I've posted anything. I'd like to say that I've been really busy, but that isn't very true. I'm happy to report that I think spring might finally stick. Yesterday I spent the afternoon cleaning up the horrendous mess that took over the balcony during the winter months. The sun shining and temperatures warming means garage sale season is starting! With that in mind, I'll share some of the fun things that I've picked up at the thrift and occasional stores recently.

The lovely clock above I found at Urban Cottage. I saw it in a picture in an e-mail they sent out and decided that being there when they opened for the monthly sale was so necessary! My BFF, Toph, drove us there in his apparent death trap. Of course he told me it's probably on a recall list while we were driving- haha... We got there safely and the clock was there in working order, score! It ticks really loudly and needs to be wound. I haven't quite figured out how to get it to keep time, but apparently this is just a trial-and-error thing that comes along with old clocks. Based on my own Internet research, it was made by the Lux Clock Manufacturing Company in 1961, the last year of production by the original company before they were bought out by the Robertshaw-Fulton Controls Company.

That same day, we went to Flamingos. They open a day earlier than Urban Cottage, so I went there the afternoon before with BJ. He bought me a square blue Ball jar with a lid and I didn't have money on me to by the sewing chair I spotted out front. I decided that if it was still there the next day when I went with Toph that it was meant to be. The month before I passed on another sewing chair that had been redone which was out of my price range. This chair was better because it was cheaper, the seat opens, and I get to make it my own! I found some really cute fabric at Crafty Planet that I'm going to recover the seat with, but I think I'm going to leave the cream part because it isn't in that bad of shape. Once I refinish the wood I think it will match the table housing my Singer, Doris. I realize that I never posted about her like I said that I would. The studio is a disaster area due to housing things for a massive garage sale I'm going to be having in Redwood in June sometime. I've been slowly adding to the pile(s) since last fall. Once all the crap is out of there, I hope to have an awesome reveal of the finished chair and my beautiful machine!

Arc's has been good to me so far this year. I found a big green Pyrex mixing bowl that matches the green of the crazy daisy design. I've also been picking up the Corelle plates with that design when I find them to use as everyday dishes. One of my best finds from there is the yellow casserole dish with a lid. I found another red refrigerator dish at Urban Cottage the month before the sale at which I bought the clock. It wasn't red anymore, but it had a lid, which my still red one didn't have, so I bought it for the lid.

I found a couple of Temporama plates and a serving bowl. Knowing that things rarely stay together there, I made sure to look through the whole aisle to make sure I wasn't leaving any matching things behind. A lady had been looking at the bowl and set it back on the top shelf. If she came back for it later, tough luck because I scooped it up!

I also found this super cute Coq Rouge plate by Holt-Howard from 1962. My mom has the santa salt and pepper shakers that probably everyone has seen, but one of her stupid ex-boyfriends put salt in it and didn't clean it out before storing it for the year and most of the paint came off of both of them. They are things that I looked forward to seeing every year as a child and hoped they would be mine one day. They still will, but I think I'll probably need to find presentable ones before that. Anyway, this plate was a steal and I'm so glad that I didn't set it back down as I had thought of doing.

BJ took me to see the dinosaur exhibit at the Science Museum. It was a fun exhibit, but the movie at the Omnitheater wasn't really worth what they charge to get in. There was a long break between our times at the exhibit and the movie so we decided to get fries from the restaurant on the top floor. I was pleased to see that they compost. We've finally started composting after getting rid of our garbage can back in December. We had a lot of scraps collected and I'm happy to finally get it going, although it would be ready to use in our garden this spring. We have been making the transition toward zero waste, but fitting it realistically into our lives. I don't mind "wasting" my time dusting knick knacks and collecting is something that is actually ingrained into my DNA- I come from hoarders and collectors. I've really enjoyed making more food from scratch. I bake one or two loaves of bread every week and we made peanut butter for the first time last night! Overall, it saves a lot of money buying in bulk and not wasting time, resources, and our precious environment on useless packing,especially plastics, is gratifying. 

One of the random contests on Neopets was to make a gnome themed garden ornament of sorts. Seeing as how I love all things gnome and I make and sell garden decorations, I was uber excited for this contest. I decided on a Hasee Bounce-esque bobble mushroom. I hand sculpted the little Hasees. I sculpted the mushroom around a big barn nail as I do my other mushrooms, but I added a spring to the cap to make it bobble. It was challenging getting it to not act as top-heavy as it is, but I managed. I really think that I deserved first place, not because I'm me, but because the other entries weren't that stellar. Plus, mine BOBBLED! These guys can literally bounce up and down, but TNT was only impressed enough to give me second, so this is still the highest trophy I hold for random contest. Boo...

May is fast approaching and I just finished making and glazing all of the peepers I'm making for the show. I have 90 of them, so I hope people buy them up! I'll be in booth 66 at the Elk River Arena's 24th Annual Spring Arts and Crafts Fair Saturday, May 3, 9 am-4 pm and Sunday May 4, 10 am-2 pm. I'm also going to be at Johnstock again this year on Saturday, May 31 10 am-4 pm. Spread the word and come check them out! :)

*All the links to stores are not sponsored, I just really love these places.

Throwback Thursday

Good Thursday, everyone! I'm not sure what made me think of it, but this morning when I woke up I thought of the plush Macbook that I made for BJ back in 2008. It was during March when a lot of schools were on spring break and I had maybe an extended weekend off between quarters. I don't remember for what occasion I made this, but it was something that the mood struck me and I had to make it right away. This was back when I had a Nikon point-and-shoot and it was notorious for taking blurry pictures even if it was setting on a flat surface and not moving. We've come a long way in camera technology since then. I could have taken new photos, but in the spirit of Throwback Thursday, I decided to post the photos in all their terribly lit glory.

This guy is based on my beloved (and now ancient) black Macbook. I had my share of heartbreaks with this machine and he has a spot that I superglued back on so that I wouldn't slit my wrists every time I typed something. Regardless of his imperfections, he was a beauty and BJ was jealous, so I thought I'd give him one that was more in my price range. I made this precise in dimension and included a QWERTY keyboard and a disc drive!  I don't have a picture of this. The drive is a little hidden sleeve where the real slot would be and has a CD sleeve that holds 4 discs. Now it's used as a cat bed and it's full of hair... >_<

In other news, I'm currently finishing up a birthday present and conceptualizing some new products. I've got a craft fair coming up the first weekend of May in Elk River that I have to make a few more things to replenish my spring stock. Today I cleaned off the table on the balcony, put up the new-to-me railing planter, and watched the cats enjoy the sun. Spring begins officially next week!!! Let's cross our fingers that the weather reflects that :)

I'm on book 16 of the year already! Book 12 was Shakespeare's Landlord  (The Lily Bard series) by Charlaine Harris which I really liked. Number 13 I don't know can really count as it isn't a novel or anything. We caught up on New Girl while we have the Netflix trial and when I saw that they made Douche Journals Vol. 1 by "Schmidt" I requested it immediately. It was funny because he's an hiliarious character. Book 14 was Ball of Fire: The Tumultuous Life and Comic Art of Lucille Ball by Stefan Kaufer. It was an impulse request from the library after I saw it on a Barnes & Noble shelf. If you know me, you know that I love Lucy. It had some interesting stories chronicling her life and had a few bits of information that I'd never heard before. Number 15 was Grave Sight (The Harper Connelly series) by Charlaine Harris. I wanted to read each series straight without starting on another one, but there are wait lists even for the digital copies, so this became my next book. It was good, but I like the Lily Bard series better so far. Now I'm reading There's More to Life Than This by Theresa Caputo. I guess I like books about dead people. So far I think the stories are just rehashed from episodes of her reality series, which will be disappointing if that's the whole book. I don't have cable anymore so I can't watch the series as it airs. I wish that I could get a reading with her. I went to one of her group readings at the State Theater in Minneapolis a few years ago and that was fun, but I was not a chosen one out of the thousands of people.

Anyway, I've got to get going on some designs for Spoonflower and the other handful of projects that have been waiting for my attention, including banana bread! Yum!

Back Online!

Hello, All! I finally got the Internet back! I went more than a month without it and almost went crazy. In that time I made a huge dent into my book-a-week goal; I'm moving onto book twelve! I also made a cat design that I'm super stoked on. I have the design available on products on Society6 and as digital recipe cards that can be printed. They are available as an instant download on Etsy. I've uploaded the design to Spoonflower. Once I have the proof, I'll make it available for sale.

Speaking of Spoonflower, I got a free swatch of my quatrefoil leaf design when they were doing the freebie of the silky faille fabic. That design is now for sale if you're thinking way ahead to fall. At the moment, I'm thinking very short term (hopefully) to spring. I'm sure most of the country is over this winter what with all the storms and polar vortex days. The snow ledge finally all melted yesterday from the bedroom window and today we have a forecast of 8 inches >_< Please, no snow in May this year!!!

Right now I'm working on something new for a show I'm hoping to do in May. I'll post on it when I have the final version ready.

I signed up for a pen pal with International Geek Girl Pen Pal Club and got a super awesome match. I'm preparing to send out the first letter/package. Really excited! :)

In case you are interested in the books that I've read so far this year, here's a list:

1. Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man- Steve Harvey
I felt that this book was too heavily geared toward women with children and way too religious for my taste. I don't like being told that God must be number one in everyone's lives and that somehow makes a positive relationship with a man. Clearly that works for some people, but I don't believe that Christianity is a necessity for happiness. I read this book not because I needed a self-help book, but because I think Harvey is funny and started reading it when I caught the movie on TV. I would say it is 'eh' at best.

2. Official Book Club Selection: A Memoir According to Kathy Griffin-Kathy Griffin
I started this book when it originally came out, but got too busy and shelved it. I decided to finally reread it and finish it. I love Kathy Griffin and I thought it was a funny read that also touched on some really sad moments that were honest. Good read if you're a fan.

3. All My Best Friends- George Burns
This read just like one of his acts. If you're familiar with George Burns, you know that he can be long winded and find yourself pleading that he'll get to the point. It was slightly repetitive with his signature bad jokes, but I love George Burns, so it was fun to get behind the scenes of old Hollywood.

4. Revenge Wears Prada- Lauren Weisberger
When I read The Devil Wears Prada when it came out, I was in high school and read it during downtime at school and it took me FOREVER! I didn't love it either. I was worried that the sequel would be the same, but I actually liked this book and it was a really quick read, only about 4 days. My guilty pleasure is chick lit, if it's yours too, this is a must read.

5. The Art of Happiness- Dalai Lama + Dr. Howard Cutler
This is a book that obviously deals with a heavy subject. I enjoyed the parts of dialog between the two men, but was bored by the psychological parts. The Dalai Lama interests me, which is why I picked this book up when I saw it at a thrift store. It has great advice which makes the goal of happiness seem achievable, but for Americans, I think that is hard to put aside our narcissism and look at things as simply as they are. Definitely a worthwhile read if you're interested in Buddhism and/or the Dalai Lama.

6. Skinny Bitch- Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin
This is another book that I started last year, but hey, I finished it this year! In total, it took me 3-4 days to finish this book without really trying. I just didn't read a lot at a time and put it down when I got a book from the library. Anyway, this book gives a simplified explanation of veganism and cites many resources with facts supporting it and revealing the evils of factory farming. The "You Are What You Eat" chapter had me in tears. I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in taking off his or her blinders and becoming conscious of the food industry.

7. The Borrowers- Mary Norton
Yes, this is a children's book, but it is a chapter book. I love the Studio Ghibli movie version of this story and wanted to read the book. It was adorable and fun.

8. Farenheit 451- Ray Bradbury
In high school, this was one of three books we could choose to read in English. I chose Go Ask Alice by Anonymous at the time. I picked this up for .69 at a thrift store because I thought maybe I missed out on it. (Go Ask Alice is so good, read that also!) This was a great read! You need to read this if you haven't!  I was blown away by how imaginative it was. There were so many things that are real today that probably seemed far-fetched when it was written in the 1950's. While I was reading it, I thought it seemed eerily similar to many episodes of The Twilight Zone. Turns out Bradbury was a writer on the show! 

SPOILER! I think it's funny that he kept men and women sleeping in separate beds and that smoking was still a very popular thing to do, but he gets a break for inventing blue tooth/ear buds!

9. Is Everyone Hanging Out without Me? (And Other Concerns)- Mindy Kaling
She says in the beginning that you can read this book in two days. I did. There were only a few times that I actually laughed out loud, but overall it was a funny book and quite enjoyable. She is very relatable to girls who grew up as awkward kids.

10. The Time Traveler's Wife- Audrey Niffenegger
I didn't think that I was going to be able to read this book in a week because it is so long. When I started, I was already 3 week ahead of schedule, so it wouldn't have mattered if I took a little extra time, but I couldn't put it down long enough to not finish it in a week. The characters are dynamic and the story is endearing. Be prepared with tissues or a hanky, this is a tear-jerker. I've requested the movie from the library, but from what I've ready the book is better, per usual.

11. Cemetery Girl: The Pretenders- Charlaine Harris + Christopher Golden
This is actually a graphic novel. I don't know if I can really count this because it took me an hour at most to finish it. It was a fun read and I look forward to book two.

I haven't decided which book is going to be number 12 yet. I have an unplanned book in transit to my library, but I kind of want to get started on the Harper Connelly series by Charlaine Harris. I'm planning on reading all of her novels this year because I really liked the Sookie Stackhouse series. If you were wondering, it is SO MUCH BETTER than True Blood. I still like the TV show, but am disappointed by the drastic changes to the main storylines the last couple of seasons.

I'm going to go make breakfast for dinner and cross my fingers that we don't actually get almost a foot of snow. I have a bang cut tomorrow morning and am supposed to be having a fun day off with BJ for my birthday. Boo, winter in Minnesnowda!