Santa & Reindeer Nubbins

Come on...it's December...Christmas is coming. You knew I was going to do these!

Presence on the Patio Advertising

I've finished the flyer for Presence on the Patio!

And Rachel and I started making the sandwich board sign to put on the sidewalk outside the cafe`.

I can't wait to see it out on the sidewalk!

Decorating the Shirt Factory Cafe for Christmas

So, remember back when I helped decorate the Shirt Factory Cafe for a baby shower?...well, we're at it again! I've been helping my friends Kim (on the ground) and Rachel (on the ladder) decorate our favorite cafe for Christmas!

But that's not even the best news! We're doing an event on the Shirt Factory Cafe's patio on December 19th from 6:00pm to 9:00pm. The event is called "Presence on the Patio" and we are calling it "a winter fair". There will be wreath-making, donuts and (best of all) handmade gifts made by local artisans like me! We're currently working on securing either a sound system or live music, and I am working on a flyer/logo.

We're friends with a guy who is good friends with the owner of the cafe (yay for connections!)... and Kim and Rachel got asked to help organize an event. And they've been so kind as to invite me to help too! I'm so excited to be involved in the planning process of this event!

More details (and a flyer) to come!

Second Storie Saturday

I only took a few pictures at the second storie indie market on Saturday. I was so engrossed in checking out the artists' work that I forgot all about taking pictures. It had so many unique artists and was so much different than your average craft show (I guess that's the "indie" part!)

There were a ton of people there. I was impressed and glad that the show got so much exposure. I look forward to maybe being a part of it next year. That is, if they like me of course. The show is juried. But there is nothing at the show like my work (there are not a lot of plush makers in Rochester in general I think)...plus I already have an artist there who is rooting for me...

My friend Rachel Baldanza was there. She was like "Your monsters should be here!" I met her through doing the First & Last: Arts & Crafts show at Spot Coffee. She makes these wonderfully whimsical paper dolls "out of the scrips and scraps of old watercolor and acrylic paintings [she's] made for years. These dolls are unique and jointed so they move around." And each doll is given their own name and personality. She gave a doll to each of the First & Last artists the first show she did with us. I still have mine. His name is Cedric. Go ahead and check out her etsy shop.

A table with fun felty stuff. I love how a lot of the vendors used vintage-y looking items to display their various wares. Like the books in the above picture. Many people had vintage wooden boxes/crates as well. (I LOVE wooden boxes/crates!) I liked how Rachel displayed her paper dolls on a clothesline with cool metal supports...but I think I've decided that when I do my clothesline display, I'll do it with wood...preferably rustic, log-looking wood.

Here is the front "welcome" table...

I heart handmade!

Then Mom and I went to Brugger's for lunch...

(wow...pink scarf with green top...holy bright colors! I've come a long way from borderline goth girl in black & red!)

Turkey sandwich on a garlic bagel with mayo, lettuce, cucumber, and alfalfa sprouts...mmmmmmm! Best...sandwich...ever!

Heading to the Second Storie

My mom and I are going to second storie indie market today.
I found out about second storie by finding a postcard-sized advertisment for their "I Heart Handmade" show in February 2007 in the ladies restroom of Joanne Fabrics. Unfortunately, I found the ad one day too late and had missed the show! They've had other shows since then that I've missed due to prior commitments on the days the shows were on. So this will be my first time attending one of their events. I'm really goig to check it out to see if I'd like to apply to be a part of their next show. Here's hoping!

Check out their blog and Facebook page.!

My Early Christmas Gift...

So, my mom is awesome....but also kind of crazy!
She went shopping today (on Black Friday...~shudder~. I refused to go shopping today!). But she only went to JoAnne Fabrics and Michael's and said that it wasn't all that crazy. But she also got an awesome deal on a Cricut Personal Cutter at JoAnne's. The regular price is $199.99 (eek!), but today it was on sale for $74.88 (squeal!). So Mom bought me one as my Christmas gift, and not only could she not keep it a secret, she couldn't wait for me to open it! I don't even know why she bothered to wrap it!

So we had fun tonight playing with my new toy. (and for the scrapbooker, cardmaker, or papercrafter...it's a really fun toy!)

One of the cartridges has a special card-making feature on it.

Mom did say that if I was going to be in town for Christmas instead of in Ohio with my husband's family, she would have waited until Christmas to give it to me. (My husband and I alternate years that we spend the holidays with our families...if we spend Thanksgiving with my family, we'll spend Christmas with his. Next year we will do Thanksgiving with his family and Christmas with mine. It's a good system.) But on the other hand, it's not uncommon for my Mom to buy me something as a gift for Christmas or my birthday and not be able to wait to give it to me.

Gobble Gobble...

Happy Thanksgiving! And here, for your enjoyment, is the obligitory Thanksgiving Nubbin....are you ready?....the Turkey Nubbin!

Ironically enough...I did not have turkey today for Thanksgiving Dinner. My grandma made ham...which I realize is not traditional, but I actually think I liked it better than turkey (way less bones!).

And the back view...

I think if I do another one, I'll do pointier tail feathers.

Photo Shoot: Snow White

I spent this afternoon being a model! My friend Ashley is an aspiring photographer (I believe I've mentioned her before). She is taking a digital photography class and has an assignment to pick a famous photographer and shoot a photo in their style. She chose Annie Leibovitz...who has done a lot of dramatic/elaborate fairy tale/fantasy themed photos (some examples can be found here, here, and here). So Ashley asked if I would be her model and if I would be in costume for the shoot. And anyone who knows me knows I never pass up a chance to wear my corset! (as well as my wedding dress...what other bride gets this much milage out of her dress? I get to wear it to the Renaissance Faire every year AND do photo shoots!)

We did a kind of Snow White kind of thing (hence the apple and me lying on the ground). If only we'd had some dwarves! (...er, um...little people).

I laid on the ground for quite a while while she took shots from some different angles. But I was comfortable...I was lying on a blanket and had a jacket rolled up propping up my head. It was chilly today though...my apple hand got pretty cold when I was lying there. The funny thing is whenever people walked by. They probably thought "who's the crazy girl in the medieval dress lying on the ground?"...at least until they saw Ashley with her camera.

Be sure to go check out her photography blog for more pictures !

I was featured on the RNEST Blog!

I was pleasantly surprised to find out today that I was featured on Rochester NY Etsy Street Team's blog as "Jack"s Pick". Each Friday he selects an item created by a member of the Rochester NY Etsy Street Team (RNEST). He said it was hard to pick a favorite, but he picked Saundur as his favorite "for two main reasons, he was green, and he had a beard. My favorite color is green, and I have a beard...".

Yay! Thanks Jack for featuring me!

My "Studio"

Here's a glimpse into the evolution of my workspace.
Here's what it looked like during our "walk-through" of the house before we bought it. It was the smallest bedroom upstairs, and I immediately said "This will be my craft room!"

Here it is shortly after we first moved in (but weren't completely moved in. I should have taken a picture of it on our "big" moving day! There were so masny boxes that I never thought I'd get everything organized!)

And here it is now!

Don't let the mess fool you! I actually have things pretty organized! But tell me that the rest of you don't have craft rooms that are as messy as this (or worse!). Those shelves are reused/repurposed bi-fold closet doors from my parent's house. I originally took them because I thought I would use them to make big paintings...but I think they're serving me better as shelves!

And this is where the magic happens! My sewing station!

The table my sewing machine resides on is an old school desk I picked up from the curb outside the house of a local Amish family who were moving. The top was really dirty, after some scrubbing and magic eraser, it was as good as new!

And here is my newly installed monster clothesline!

I LOVE my monster clothesline! Whenever I do another craft show (or if I ever have my own shop) this is how I want to display my monsters!