Moo!

I started this jolly little cow while my folks were here a few weeks ago.  For some reason I just got it in my head that there needed to be a jolly cow to go along with the happy lamb in my shop.  This little guy is gracing the front of a business card holder!  

Time and daylight have not been on my side, so please forgive me for the picture quality.

Hopefully you get the idea anyway.

And of course, my hand-made cards do not fit in a normal-sized card holder.

Just gives me an excuse to plug another crafty lady!  If you haven't already, you should make a trip over to Dottie's shop: rainbeauxart  I think you'll be pretty happy you did!

Fun and functional for you this Thursday!

WE DID IT!!!!!

Sold my first items at a craft fair this weekend.  Slow day for sales, but we had a GREAT time!

My friend came along to help with the set up.  She made chocolate chip cookies for the booth (and coffee for us!!! Thanks Jennifer!).  The cookies were great tasting AND they brought a lot of people in.  Definitely going to make cookies for every fair!

My aprons.  Love how they all look together on the clothesline.

I worked on hair clips throughout the day (hence the piles-o-junk around my chair).  It was really fun to be able to sew most of the day, and it got people to ask what we were doing.  Jen was making stuff and so was Brian when he came by - arts and crafts time all around!

I didn't even think to get the camera out when Brian "relieved" Jennifer or when J and Wy stopped by (Brian and Jen helped out because we didn't know what the weather was going to be like and if Wy would be able to stick around that long...he's only 4 1/2 mons. you know!) ;)  Next time...

Brooches from felt and recycled shirts

Hankies from sheets and a hankie holder from a shirt

Halloween, felt covered hair clips

I walked away from my "stall" after packing everything up at the end of the day and had an overwhelming sense of accomplishment.  Not all of the items went like hot cakes, but we DID IT!  Finally, finally did what I've been thinking about, talking about, wishing about doing for so long - and it felt AWESOME!  

felt is fun! (and other tid-bits)

Not sure what spurred it, but I'm suddenly very interested in felt.  I made some felt flowers (which I forgot to photograph!) and this little strawberry.

This little guy was created while I watched Top Hat (how can you go wrong with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers???).  I've been using the acrylic craft felt which I have not been happy with at all.  No stores in my area sell anything else, so I looked to 'the internets', as my husband calls it, where I stumbled upon Wool Felt Central (check it out here!).  It turns out the brick and mortar store behind the website is in Cozad, Nebraska!

"So what?" you ask?  Well, it turns out I'm from Nebraska and while Cozad is not all that close to where I grew up (South Sioux City), just the fact that it is in Nebraska got me really excited!

Well, when I found out they are in Nebraska AND they have great prices AND fun patterns for things I've never tried before but want to look in to (all these fun patterns), I had to give it a go.  A little package arrived a few days ago and I can't wait to get started - but I'm not sure when I'm going to fit all this fun in!  This is going to be a present for my mom so I'm not sure if I can share a picture yet...

I also thought I'd share a picture of why my craft space looks like these days.  It is close to being declared a disaster area.  But you know what, I'm getting stuff done!  And who wants to see a pretty, clean, organized studio anyways?  Doesn't that just happen in our dreams?

Out of that mess came this 'dress-up apron'.  

You'll notice that I match my furniture.  The pillow and napkin (that's the top layer of the apron) are from World Market in a retro strawberry pattern that I LOVE!!!  The napkins were on sale the last time I was there so I got a whole bunch knowing that 'someday' a perfect project for them would come to me. 

The layer underneath is a pillowcase (ruffles and all) that my mom found at a tag sale.  I added a flower made from an old t-shirt, a leaf from a green ribbon and some worded ribbon from the scrapbook stash.  My first apron just for me!

In other news...I was sewing along in my happy little way the other day, making an apron out of a sheet and a pillowcase for a friend, when my sewing machine jammed up.  After taking it apart, cleaning it, putting back together, re-threading, etc. it is still not working correctly.  Now, I found a shop that repairs machines, but I'm afraid it will cost as much to repair it as I paid for it.  SO - I asked my friend Trish, who makes the most BEAUTIFUL quilts, what kind of machine she used and how much I should paid for a decent machine that won't do things like this to me on a regular basis.  She has a Janome that she really likes.
What about you?  Any advice?