I love scarves, but...

they do have a tendency to dangle in unwanted places. The dog's face, the kitchen sink, my cereal bowl; that kind of thing. But now....BEHOLD!


Cowls. I don't know what their fates will be. Clearly I shouldn't have tried to sell them at an outdoor sale on a 90 degree summer day. But the internets have no weather patterns outside of the occasional blip in speed. Remember when all there was was dial-up and you had to wait like 20 seconds for every page to load? Now, if it's not instant, I have a very precise reaction: swear while pounding my fist on the desk, then roll my eyes while still managing to use my peripheral vision to keep tabs on the screen in case it changes, then full-on look at the screen for a moment before swearing and pounding my fist on the desk.


The point is, the cowls will probably end up in the shop someday.

Made in MN Blogventure Wednesday 6: Double-treasury jewelry extravaganza!

The premise:
This blogventure celebrates my favorite colors, blue and green, while paying homage to the awesomeness of the HandmadeMN members via Etsy treasuries. Each one features items from a particular crafting category as listed on the HandmadeMN blog. If you like the items, leave a comment on the treasury - comments will bump the treasury toward the top of the list so other folks are more likely to view it and give some love to these fabulous artists!

Some categories have just a few shops and others have so many that they'll cover more than one week; I want everybody to get fair attention, so you might see some random treasuries here and there. It'll take at least six months to get through all the HandmadeMN shops, so saddle up!


This week: Double-treasury jewelry extravaganza!

DANGLIES AND SPARKLIES
featuring
KellyBot
Kelly Lynn Designs
Komfy Kozy
LilyKat Studio
Little Red Designs
MNC Moon
Modern Meets Whimsy
Nikki Lee Designs
One 9 Designs
Rivertown Glass
SB Design
Silver Butterfly Jewelry
Suz and Roo
Tiny Hands
Vintage Recreations
Water Nymph




AND

DANGLIES AND SPARKLIES, 2ND EDITION
featuring
Amanda Gwen Designs
Cameo Design
Cholula Jewelry
Clay by Clay
Connected Elements Designs
Craftease
Designs by Dottie
Dmalia
Everyday Elegant
From Out of the Cracks
Gemnorde
Heirloom Jewelry Studios
JanRa Jewelry Designs
Jennifer Merchant Design
Jenny Bunny Creations

Chalk pastel tutorial now available for your viewing pleasure/usage/constructive criticism.

FYI: I did another tutorial and it's up on the HandmadeMN blog.

Woo hoo!

Woodbury Lakes Art Faire is a scorcher!*

Temperature-wise, not sales-wise. Although I did make enough to buy myself the dress from the neighbor booth that I'd been eyeing for two days.


Yes, it was so hot and humid the first day that we had to shut down early as it gave way to rain and, um, tornadoes. The second day was more pleasant. Traffic was good but people weren't buying anything! At least I hear pretty much the same story from most of the other vendors, so I have some reason to hope that it's not just that my products are totally undesirable. Even better, there were many positive comments from the browsers, which will help me understand what products I should be focusing on. Even though focusing is for chumps.


The other nice thing about this "faire" was that I was able to cut my booth fee by sharing a space, and that also meant I was covered for bathroom/leg-stretching/Chipotle outings. My cohort, Monique, was awesome. She witnessed the schizophrenia that is my little business, and I learned all about the skunk problem in her neighborhood. We also traded goods, which is always fun. It's like shopping without spending money because by the time the goods switch hands you've forgotten all about the purchasing of supplies and the time it took you to make the thing.

All in all, a good first outdoor show experience.


*RIP Steve Erwin.

Woodbury Lakes Art Faire

I'm not sure why they put the "e" at the end of "faire." Like "shoppe." Makes it fancier I guess. Or they wanted to make it more French. In French, "faire" means "to have," so it does makes some sense if that's the angle they were going for.

This will be my first outdoor sale, made possible because they are providing the tents. Excellent. There will be new stuff at my table, and certainly lots of goodies elsewhere. I'm sure I'll sell that stuff, but I'll still post about it later :)

Made in MN Blogventure Wednesday 5: A little from column A, a little from column B.

The premise:
This blogventure celebrates my favorite colors, blue and green, while paying homage to the awesomeness of the HandmadeMN members via Etsy treasuries. Each one features items from a particular crafting category as listed on the HandmadeMN blog. If you like the items, leave a comment on the treasury - comments will bump the treasury toward the top of the list so other folks are more likely to view it and give some love to these fabulous artists!

Some categories have just a few shops and others have so many that they'll cover more than one week; I want everybody to get fair attention, so you might see some random treasuries here and there. It'll take at least six months to get through all the HandmadeMN shops, so saddle up!


This week:
A LITTLE FROM COLUMN A, A LITTLE FROM COLUMN B
featuring

Egret Effects
XO Handworks
MTart
ljbe
Harvest Moon by Hand
Catch a Star Creations

I try to stay away from gender-specific stuff, but...

My cousin Sara is having a girl and I previously had bought a metric ton of pink baby yarn at the Needlework Unlimited outlet, so there you have it.


Also, sometimes frilly, ruffly things are just cute. There, I said it. Grandpa Ryan will make sure she plays with trucks.

Clearly the sweater is unfinished, but I'm giving it short sleeves with eyelets and a tiny ruffle at the cuff. Sara was one of the cutest kids ever, so I'm betting the baby is going to be super snuggly in this sweater.

Dogs are for wrestling and people are for snuggling

It's been a while since we've heard from Penny. She's been busy eating, sleeping, pooping, and eating her poop. She also discovered a new hobby: being afraid of thunderstorms. One of my hobbies is being a pushover, so when she creeps over to the bed after the sky-grumbles start and looks longingly up at me, I have to snuggle her. More proof that she will find whatever reason she can to curl up in a lap or the crook of an arm all the day (and night) long. She also shakes a lot, which really ups her patheticness.

She isn't nearly as social with other animals, especially if she's on a leash. This week, however, she made a new friend despite her usual growly routine. She's defensive; maybe it's her size or her breed or her lack of proper training. I don't know. She just doesn't like to be sniffed, and I have to say I quite agree that this is really a violation of personal space. She's also growly when she plays, which can be confusing for other dogs and their people, but Lily the beagle took it very well. Penny (and long-time cohort Gretzky) would prefer wrestling when playing with other dogs. But if you're like Lily and you're not a wrestler, running so fast that you grunt every time your feet hit the ground will suffice.


Why the running starts, we don't know. What the running will accomplish, we don't know. We only know that it is fun and then they sleep.

Made in MN Blogventure Wednesday 4: Put It on Paper!

The premise:
This blogventure celebrates my favorite colors, blue and green, while paying homage to the awesomeness of the HandmadeMN members via Etsy treasuries. Each one features items from a particular crafting category as listed on the HandmadeMN blog. If you like the items, leave a comment on the treasury - comments will bump the treasury toward the top of the list so other folks are more likely to view it and give some love to these fabulous artists!

Some categories have just a few shops and others have so many that they'll cover more than one week; I want everybody to get fair attention, so you might see some random treasuries here and there. It'll take at least six months to get through all the HandmadeMN shops, so saddle up!


This week:
PUT IT ON PAPER
featuring

Hungry Dog Designs
JuJu Bee's Boutique
Just Another Day Designs
Light Reading
Locust Street
Oodles of Color
Sakura Design
Scissor Savvy
Scrap Addict
TC Witchcraft Factory
The Pen and the Hen

Sometimes it's fun to look through old stuff.

This is why my mom never throws anything away and why I also have this inclination. Unfortunately, hubs recently informed me that he would like there to be nothing in the entire basement of our house; he's on a bit of a purging rampage. He believes in simplicity and responsible consumerism. I believe in not having to buy things later when you can save them now. It's a different kind of responsible consumerism. Compromise; THAT'S the name of game, ABBA.

So while rummaging through an old file cabinet looking for 1)my passport and 2)my social security card - in a bit of a panic because I really thought I had lost both* - I found this:


It's a project from my graphic design class in journalism school. The grey rectangle is there because I don't want any of you crazy people showing up at my parents' house thinking you'll be getting cold-cuts and sheet cake.

I'm a little ashamed of the blatant judgment my message via that poor chicken's board places on folks who put on costumes to make a living. TC Bear is frickin awesome. Also, I have a lot of respect/sadness for people standing on the sidewalks of Edina dressed like Lady Liberty. It may be a crappy job, but at least you've got one. And who knows, maybe it's a great job. Maybe I should look into it...

Actually, speaking of jobs, I did recently score part-time employment at Patina (which is why I was searching for certain documents providing proof of my legal status). But I'll continue crafting and, hopefully, making really bad posters and such on the side. Here's the one I did for hubs's graduation:**



* Not the case; employment, here I come!
** May contain historically inaccurate detail.

Now we are six.

Laura turned six a couple weeks ago, but since we were out of town at that time, she had a party with her friends this week. I'm a fan of stringing out birthdays and other celebrations. It usually means more cake.

She's not my kid but I totally get all the silly things grown-ups say.... she's growing up so fast! I can't believe she's six! I remember when she was just a baby!

Indeed. She was baby who did not like to be fiddled with. She loved the sound of running water. She was very, very willful. She ate lemons. She had to be rocked vigorously for about 30 minutes before being put down, and that usually resulted in me being very sweaty.

And now she's six. There's something absolutely heartbreaking about the possibility of forgetting her as a baby, and as a toddler, and as a little girl...but we get old and the business of life and the exhaustion of child-rearing chips away at our brains. And they get older, too, and lose their innocence and become independent and move on to have their own lives. The anxious part of me thinks it's totally reasonable to start preparing for that as soon as possible. I mean, like, as soon as they're born you begin reminding yourself that you don't own them; knowing that you'll spend years tending to them and then they will, in essence, leave you.

But that's the anxious part of me. The same part that nags when people aren't washing their hands and when I worry that I'm doing nothing important with my life. The truth is, I just can't tell the future or control the hygiene of everyone around me at all times. My God, I'll try, but still. I also can't say that my kids (or niece, or nephew, or anyone else) are my legacy, because I don't believe in putting that pressure on them - like I'm a wannabe pop star so I whore my child out to Disney.* Sure, I hope they do fantastic stuff. But if all they do is love their family, they have done something important, and I will have, too.

I hope I remember rocking them to sleep and teaching them to read and the total unapologetic way they run to me, but I might not, so I better just appreciate where they are while they're there, and hope I can revel in the people they become.



Things I love about being six:
we find no reason to believe you shouldn't get presents each time you see grandpa
we want to be helpful, and we are old enough to actually be helpful
we love freely
we dress up
we can handle being away from Mommy overnight
we sometimes use manners without having to be told
we dance



*I know it might be unpopular, and highly hypocritical because I grew up during the heyday that was The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and The Lion King, but I'm not a big Disney fan for kids. So buying that Sleeping Beauty dress for Laura probably wasn't the pinnacle of my integrity.

Made in MN Blogventure Wednesday 3: Captured Moments (and a scarf)

So...here's what I said last week: "It's not that I forgot about this little exercise, it's that I was out of town. Onward!"

This week: Ok. I forgot. BAD, blogger, BAD!


The premise:
This blogventure celebrates my favorite colors, blue and green, while paying homage to the awesomeness of the HandmadeMN members via Etsy treasuries. Each one features items from a particular crafting category as listed on the HandmadeMN blog. If you like the items, leave a comment on the treasury - comments will bump the treasury toward the top of the list so other folks are more likely to view it and give some love to these fabulous artists!

Some categories have just a few shops and others have so many that they'll cover more than one week; I want everybody to get fair attention, so you might see some random treasuries here and there. It'll take at least six months to get through all the HandmadeMN shops, so saddle up!


This week:

CAPTURED MOMENTS
featuring
Mary Foster Creative
Sarah Mandile Photography
Thole Imagery