The weekend is finally here…….and I am so excited!!!!

The show is going to be so awesome.  Not only for all the hundreds of incredibly cool artists and crafters I can’t wait to check out, but my booth is located beside everyone’s favourite crafty rockstar EKRA.  So it will be great to catch up with her and drive her to distraction with my constant yammering………….Just kidding (kinda).

So if you are in the St. Louis area this weekend come and stop by O’Fallon community park and say hi to the critters……I’m so excited!!!!  Look how awesome the vendors are.

I see ya ……..raising a skeptical eyebrow as you read this but truly  Vegas was a world of whimsy for our trip,  which you got to admit was pretty lucky for me.  Bellagio’s  indoor gardens had completely recreated a very large garden with bugs and insects and mushrooms that you could wander aimlessly around as if you had inadvertently munched one side of the toadstool……..it was soooo cool,  especially the bees which were all made out of fresh flowers.

I was in heaven in sincity,  not an easy feat if you think about it.  The Palms also had the first poster I’d seen for Harry Potter 7

So I was completely in sensory overload especially as the showman extraordinaire Jim Rose was also doing a show and slot extravaganza

So we caught the man dropping a bowling ball onto a plate onto his wife’s stomach (ow can you say divorce) and hitting a man over the head  with a frying pan (he was going for the world record of 20 but could “only” manage 7 double ow).

We were also lucky enough to arrive in Vegas for restaurant week……….woooooohoooooo Las Vegas and fantastic over the top master chef restaurants practically go hand in hand.  We were lucky to be able to go to Emeril Lagasse’s restaurant,  Tom Collichio’s Craftsteak and Hubert Keller’s Fleur de lys (which was particularly awesome as the restaurant is getting a new look and was closing the next day so Hubert was actually milling around speaking to the patrons)……..it’s kinda hard to pick a favourite as all three were amazing in their own way,  but for decor I’d say Craftsteak (I don’t like meat so I’m not the best judge of the food,  I think Mark was prepared to take up residence in the booth though) and for food I’d say Fleur de Lys,  everything that came out was soooo good and had me prepared to fight for the last morsel………….mmmmmmm yummmmm.

We also discovered a new favourite artist at the house of blues.  We had gone to the truly uplifting gospel brunch where we were saved and served some of the yummiest southern cooking I’ve ever had (particularly the sausages).  And a perusal of the gift shop afterwards brought the crazy art of Glenn Fox into our lives

The  crazy fishy at the bottom now resides in my bathroom and is rather fabulously happy there.

Needless to say 7 red was a bust,  but the vacation was not.

So now it’s back to crafting and panicking as Strangefolk is now less than 10 days away……………..gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!!  where does the time go?

Wow I can’t believe it’s already been and gone,  The Craftacular that is……..and much fun was had by all.

Obligatory booth shot to follow

Because of my love of schmoozing I even got a mention on a blog check it out,  although I think the author is the only person I’ve ever encountered that thinks my prices are too inexpensive…….I generally use the rule of thumb of “what would I pay for it if I saw it at a craft fair”  and usually that seems to work out pretty well,  but what do you guys think?  time to increase my prices?  ahhhhh it’s a tough one,  but  I think I love the fact that kids are so into the critter boxes and generally spend their own pocket money on them too much to incorporate a huge price hike.

This week was also the annual visit to the vet

The boys are just so pathetic  as soon as they go through the door,  that it takes all my strength not to point and laugh at them although I had to snap a picture to share………they had absolutely no intention of coming out of their cases either…..poor babies

So now it’s a count down for Strangefolk……….eeeeeeeek

And then I can officially say my first year participating in Summer shows is done………..woohoo

So the Crafter’s round up has come and gone and it was a ton of fun.  Quite a few critters found fabulous new homes in Chicago,  I was very sad to see Connor go but thrilled to think that he had found such a lovely new mummy…..

So cute!!!

The weather was fabulous on Saturday we even saw disgraced ex governor Rod Blagojevich Jogging in the neighborhood  (the hair truly is a sight to behold)………but Sunday was a whole other story……..(gotta love the Midwest in Summer) after toughing out 3 hours of rain,  the winds came and the fear of losing my precious new E-Z up to the great blue yonder was just to great,  so sorry if you headed out to Chase Park to see us as we were already Rockford bound.

Many thanks to the rather fabulous Pam who thought of me when she saw some rather fabulous cloches at a friend’s yard sale………they are truly awesome and I can’t wait to capture some critters under them.

So this Sunday we have the Summer Craftacular in Madison Wi

Just keep your finger’s crossed Sunday’s weather is blue skies and beautiful………

Wow………when did that happen?  I’m shocked,  time it really does fly by…….

I can’t believe tomorrow the Crafter’s Round up is finally here,  I’ve been stabbying like crazy for weeks in preparation for it and now I’m finally starting to feel like I might not have a half empty table after all……….phew,  that’s a relief (although I’m not sure at this point what I would do  if I wasn’t feeling ok )

So remember if you are in the Chicago area to come on by to Chase Park and say hi to the critters this weekend.

I remembered that I never ever did show you guys some of my birthday goodies even though I said I would,  aren’t I awful?   Anyway to rectify this blatant blog neglect I thought I’d show you what my friend Matt sent me…..

Norman the big snow rabbit made by Etsy sellers monsters etc……..and I just absolutely love him!!!  you should check out their store for other cuties too!!  many  thanks Matt.

Mark bought me quite a few goodies,   my favourites being this cute fishy made by Michele Smith of Mud Spun Studio that I fell in love with at the art fair on the square,  he’s supposed to be a ceiling fan pull but I have him hanging up on my bathroom cabinet….

He also got me a pizza slice

A Heidi Kenney pizza slice for Kidrobot silly…………not a real pizza slice,  although that would have been greatly appreciated too……….mmmmmmmmm pizza.   I recently bought this little guy for myself on Etsy too with the pretense that it was part of my birthday……

I just loved it at first sight……it’s a vintage find from Etsy seller Bethtastic who is based in Chicago and has a lot of very cute jewelry in her shop,  and it’s perfect for me as I am born in the year of the rabbit in the Chinese zodiac…….gosh I really will find any excuse to validate my needless spending sprees won’t I?  Shameless!!

I’m off to pack up the critters for their trip to Chicago,  hope to see you this weekend.

Yeah I’m looking at the bees buzzing around and all I can think is……….slackers!!!!  So apologies for the lack of blog updates but something had to give and the poor ole blog has suffered.

Yup but lookeee at my new captured critters

A little bee, ladybird and hedgie…….I’m loving the way these guys have turned out  and it had me thinking of a bigger captured critter so I grabbed my trusty fairy net and managed to snag

Norm the gnome……….He doesn’t seem that keen on being captured but luckily the glass is pretty thick so his protestations can barely be heard.  I’ve also been busy working on the goody insert for the craftacular bags (yup the first 50 lucky people to walk through the doors at the East Side Club in Madison Wisconsin  on August 15th will be getting a goody bag),  and trying to get stores restocked (something I’ve been a little slow at sorry guys),  all while trying to enjoy the beautiful sunny Illinois summer…….god how I adore summer,  never will you hear me complain about the heat, humidity and thunderstorms I love it all.

Okay so I’m off, back to work so much still to be done before the Crafter’s round up

Can’t believe it’s less than 2 weeks away……….gaaaaaaaaah!!!!! don’t panic!!!!!

I’m very excited today…….cos I just got the fantastic news that I am in to Strangefolk, YAAAAAAAY!!!!

I am so thrilled to be part of this show,  the name alone makes me feel right at home……..eeeeeeeek I thought I was busy before though.

So that means my Summer show schedule now looks like this

August 7th and 8th  The Crafters round up at Chase Park Chicago Illinois

The Summer Craftacular In Madison, WI

then of course the strangefolk festival

This past weekend was my 2nd favourite Madison event (the first being Maxwell street days which is this weekend) it was art fair on (and off) the square

There was tons of visually brilliant booths and I got a few goodies (of course) but this Saturday is my birthday so Markie won’t let me have them till then……….pooooooooooh.  I was in my element wandering aimlessly around the wonderful artists until the call of the terrace hit us,  nothing beats a pitcher of beer and a brat from the terrace in summer even when the heavens opened up and chucked it down it’s  still one of my favourite Madison spots

Love the terrace chairs,  they are just so cheery and did you know you can buy ’em…….makes me want a garden patio really bad,  of course it would need a bar and someone grilling brats but still.

Ok really do have to get very busy now,  before I start freaking out about my lack of critters…………gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!!

Wow what an utterly fantastic weekend in Cleveland,  Bazaar Bizarre was so much fun as were the hundreds of people who stopped by to say hi to the critters,  Smithy even decided he liked Cleveland so much he was going to stay and call it home…

Wanna see a picture of the booth with my new theme?  Oh alright then here ya go

I was really pleased with how it looked,  and I was lucky enough to snag a super sweet booth location…. mostly because I was beside my fun buddies from Oblinaknit

They are super nice,  and to prove it I can tell you that all the  booth pics you see here were actually taken by them………I am not very camera proficient at the best of times and this time I even had the special knack of forgetting my camera……….oooooops.

So that was my first official outdoor summer show and I gotta tell you I loved it,  it’s made me incredibly excited about the impending Crafters Round Up in Chicago.  And the fact that it is 2 whole days outdoors makes me feel positively giddy with glee,  woooohoooo for ez ups and sunshine……(fingers crossed).

Last week I found myself with more green wool than I thought,  so what could I possibly make……….

It’s my favourite Mario game character Yoshi!!!  He was very, very fun to make,  I almost didn’t want to call him finished as I was enjoying making him so much,  but he is and I LOVE him  I added him to the shop already.

So in Stabby news I am in full on crafting panic mode  in preparation for my first summer show on Saturday in Cleveland.  We are making a long weekend of the trip so I am looking forward to that almost as much as the show.  But seriously I am freaking out about wether I have enough critters……..or maybe I have too many? maybe there the wrong critters?……..should I make (fill in blank) instead?  and I have so much organizing to do maybe my time would be better spent getting on with that……..gaaaaaaaah!!!!  Just need to take a breath and go with the flow…………….

I thought I’d share a fun piccie from this weekend in Chicago

It’s Sally my mini cooper in front  of the one and only Superdawg,  this was our first trip to Superdawg despite living in the Chicago  land area for almost 4 years but I doubt it will be our last as the dawgs were pretty darn tasty………and the supercute packaging had me  hooked before I even took a bite………mmmmmmm the first bite yummmmmmm

Ok back to full on panicking………I mean stabbying.

I just got the fantastic news that I have been accepted to the Crafter’s round up  August 7 + 8 Saturday and Sunday at Chase Park

So exciting and makes my Summer show schedule (so far) look like this……

Saturday  July 3 2010, 12631 Larchmere Cleveland Ohio

August 7th and 8th  The Crafters round up at Chase Park Chicago Illinois

The Summer Craftacular In Madison, WI

So exciting…….the tent is going to get a good workout this summer.

I also got a few captured critters made this week

A little ladybird under a tree and a teeny brown mouse and his hunk of cheese…….It’s kinda hard to take a good picture of the captured critters as the glass reflects a lot so I  took piccies of them uncaptured so to speak

These lil’ guys will be heading to their new home at Dandy things this Saturday…….although I kinda want to keep ’em (what else is new huh?)

Alrighty back to work as I am busy, busy, busy……….mostly freaking out about the excitement of shows and tents and sunshine eeeeeeeeek .