break out the glitter!!!

i'm going to actually have time to craft this weekend! what a revelation!
i have to restock my stores for the upcoming 'holidays' and get ready for my next bibelot trunk show, which is going to be BLACK FRIDAY aka the day after Thanksgiving. and this year, i've decided to get to work earlier rather than later. what a concept!

going to focus on the smaller ornaments, making more things in the 10-20 dollar range, for gifties and what have you. lots of birds, penguins, and little guys. not so many of the big guys. if these 'tough economic times' have taught me anything, it's that people aren't really spending much money right now, especially on things like ornaments. even super cute ones.

these ornaments were at the i like you trunk show last year. they did extremely well....and are identical to the ones i had at the state fair except for the scarves. is a scrap of yarn really what it takes to sell a bird? am i gonna have to add scarves to all my birds this winter? would a bird be able to fly with a scarf? am i over thinking this? yes, yes, no and yes.

Cabinet of Wonders...

I took a class with the amazingly talented and sweet Jennifer Murphy at The Creative Connection. We got to make TWO lovely ornaments in the class! She was a fantastic teacher, and helped a group of women of all skill levels through to beautiful finished products....with all the teaching I do it's always a treat to take a class from a wonderful teacher!
The wee little blue bird comes from yarn that she hand-dyed for the class (here you can see her photo of all the samples lined up for class) and is so stinkin' cute! I decided to give my guy a mohawk which might be hard to see in the photo....and we also made a little bird standing on a tree clip with a nest of tinsel and wee mercury glass 'eggs' at his feet! How adorbs, eh?

They'll join the other handmade goodies in my 'never sell' cabinet in my studio.....prototypes, one-offs, things I made from patterns and won't sell because I didn't design them myself, things like that.
It's great to see the oldest Duckies and how far I've come....If you look closely you'll find a hand-jointed rabbit made from a book on teddy bears, two Steiff mice, owls and penguins of all sizes, Porkchop the monkey, and Duckie Ugling himself!

A day of thanks...

My boss forced me to take a day off after last week's marathon-THANK GOODNESS!!!!

I volunteered at The Creative Connection in downtown Mpls. A little bit of a hike from the 'burbs but OH so worth it. The Handmade Market was mindblowingly awesome. I had to resist buying everything I saw. I did snag a few treasures and more than a few ideas!

I met amazing women/artists/businesspeople/bloggers that i have admired for YEARS, including the lovely and amazing Jen O'Connor of Earth Angels Toys. Even ran into my sister's husband's aunt and uncle and cousin in law! What a small world, eh?

And tomorrow, I'm taking a class from Jennifer Murphy! I can't wait!

I also got the FANTASTIC news that one of my dear friends gave birth to a healthy, happy baby boy. Welcome to the world little Kagan! I can't wait to meet this little guy....

I've also broken my vow of no craft shows for a year and committed to doing a Saturday show during the St. Paul art crawl. No booth fee, no pressure. Maybe some of the billion birds I have left over from the State Fair will make it on to the table. Or maybe some old jewelry spiced up for new eyes. Who knows......

double rainbow, all the way!!!

you've no doubt seen the double rainbow video by now, and it's hundreds of tributes/spoofs.

and now, he's makin' money at it. go bear!

we had a fantastic storm earlier in the week, and i got to introduce my parents to the double rainbow phenomenon. they LOL'd and loved it. this is our double rainbow, yes it did reach all the way across the sky. started and ended on our property. i know there's no pots of gold out there, but there are acres and acres of lovely trees, swamp-y creatures, and beautiful wildflowers. i am eagerly anticipating the color show when all those trees turn gold and red.