Yes I am officially a terrible blogger………but I really was referring to the fact that as of today Summer is here,  yaaaaaaaaaaaaay finally.   Now if only someone could pass the information to the gods of thunder and lightning that seem to have taken up residence in the Rockford area I can get to work on my tan,  and finally wear my new Liberty sundresses  from target without looking like an over eager idiot.

So glad summer is here as I finally bought an ez up canopy for outdoor summer craft shows,  eeeeek!!!! and it’s kinda bizarre just how excited I am to own one……..is that weird?

I got this one from northlineexpress on a pretty great deal and  I just love it and can’t wait to use it…..which is good as it’s first outing is soon (gaaah) July 3rd in fact for the Bizarre bazaar Summer Show in Cleveland and then August 15th it will be in Madison for the Summer Craftacular.  Hopefully it will get more summer outings so keep your fingers crossed for me.

A new critter showed up this week too….

It’s Frances,  he’s looking forward to the outdoor shows too.  He’s heard so many good things about being outside for big events but he’s stocking up on the sunscreen….. he really doesn’t want to roast  and is definitely not keen on frying to a crisp in the sun.  Still a lot of people are very excited to have him attend the shows,  Frances just can’t work out why his sunscreen keeps getting replaced for barbecue sauce………

The one and only Lulu of Lulu’s Stabby Critters would like to unveil what she has been working on for well over a week and a half…………….

Drum roll please

That’s right a circus themed table set up……The idea got stuck in my head when I saw a couple of display items on ebay that I thought were super cute but made no sense with my current set up.  So of course I had to go with it and figure out how to convey a circus tent on a flat table,  what do you think?  I’m very happy with how it turned out…….I love the idea of the critters being part of a travelling side show and I am the ringmaster of course so they better behave or I’ll crack the whip.

I also made a pennant style banner

It’s huge,  but I glued glittery chipboard letters to it

that hopefully you will be able to see when it’s blowing in the wind at it’s first outing………That’s right I just found out I got accepted for Bazzar Bizarre’s Summer show……….yipppppppppppeeeeeeeee!!!! and it should be mega cool as it’s part of the Larchmere festival,   hmm may have to sneak off at some point and leave Markie to man the booth.

So now I’m busy,  busy,  busy (what else is new) as with the new theme I want circus related critters……..I’m thinking elephants and giraffes and lions but a ringmaster would also be cool………..gaaaaaaaaah back to work

Thought I’d show you a little bit of what I’ve been up this past week, lots of pinning, sewing and painting and emergency trips to the fabric store……..got to be honest though it’s taking much longer than I expected as I had hoped to be all done by now,  ah well the best laid plans of mice and men and all that……..squeek.

So that’s all your getting for now as I really want it to be all finished for next week,  and I still have a load of bunting to sew.   Which is another exciting breaking news story this week………I think I may have finally figured out my sewing machine,  so exciting!!  but of course I don’t want to get ahead of myself as I really only sewed a straight line………but still,  I’m very proud of myself as the line was (mostly) straight ahhhhhh progress.

I also (somehow) got some lil cutie cupcakes made

And added them to the shop.

And I’d like to share it with you.  First of all the weather was absolutely perfect,  and we were heading to Dandy things in Long Grove Ilinois.   A really unbelievably cool indie hand made store that I am thrilled to tell you Stabbies can now be found at………yippppppppeeeeeee.  Then we headed into Chicago to see Heidi Kenney’s Seedling, sprout and spores show at Renegade Handmade……….which of course was brilliant.

Renegade Handmade did a fantastic job of hosting the gallery night  even the window got me excited to see Heidi’s work, but not as excited as I got when I saw Heidi……….she was so nice.

And I was there early enough (oh boy was I) to snag a goody bag and some of her pieces (they didn’t last long)

This cute little group scene and

the individual tree and the individual mushroom on the right are mine as well as the sprouts on the right

I am so excited to get them I can’t tell you how hard it was to walk away from the store without them (they are on display at Renegade until May 18th).

Mark of course was excited to be in Chicago for other reasons…………..the apple Ipad came out at the weekend so of course we had to head over to the Apple store on Michigan Ave so he could play with one.  After picking one up for all of 5 seconds the sales assistant barely gets out the “can I help you” question before Mark blurts out I want one do you have them in stock?  So Mark got a goody too…………The store was absolutely mobbed

This was the frenzy of people all waiting to play  with the demo Ipads (there was always at least 30 people crammed around the table) and in the 10mins we were in the store they must have sold at least 30 ipads………probably more but still pretty immpressive.    Anyway Mark is in nerd heaven with his new toy…….it is pretty cool though.

So that was my fantastic Easter weekend,  pretty great huh?  How was yours?

Well the leaves weren’t all brown (does autumn ever really happen in California?) but the skies were kinda grey (I don’t think I had ever seen rain in California before but I’ve certainly seen it now) and we did go for lots of walks……………so 2 out of 3 ain’t bad huh?

In truth we got very lucky with the weather the week in San Diego was beautiful,  nothing but blue skies all the way.  And I got to reconnect with the love of my life…………….The Hotel Del

And we had the best room ever,  a complete view of the hotel from the front windows and the pacific and the beach from the side…….it was lovely waking up every morning (not something I would ever say) and falling asleep to the sound of the sea was something I would love to get very used to.

San Francisco had lots of highs and lows (barump bum ding) It was around this time the weather changed so we saw lots of rains.  It kinda reminded me of British summertime very overcast and rainy but not particularly cold………This didn’t stop us having a great time though,  we ate sushi from conveyor boats in Japan town

yummmmmm and did I tell you how much I love Japan town?  Everything is super kawaii it’s ridiculous,  the motto in Japan appears to be be if it doesn’t have a face,  what’s the point?  I stocked up on much cuteness.

And checked out the sealions everyday

I am glad to be home though……….as I found out the exciting news that I am going to be doing the Valentine Craftacular at the High Noon in Madison

eeeeeek so exciting,  but I gotta get busy as critter stock is very low,  and I am thinking of new critter boxes to make in honour of the show.

The best part  of being home……

Floyd was thrilled with his vacation hat……..can’t you tell?

But all I caught was some silly love bugs

They are pretty cute but they have a pretty effective little bite……….buggers!!!

I also made some Valentine candies

So basically I am just excited to be going to California tomorrow.  The snow is still thick on the ground here,  and it’s bloomin’ freezing to boot,  the thought of spending some time outdoors on the beach makes me jump for joy.  Making the valentine’s goodies did make  me excited for spring and Easter and warmer weather though………..alright see you in two weeks.

And all through the house,  not a critter was being felted………..not even a mouse (and I love them the most!!!)

It is looking an awful lot like Christmas around these parts though

I love my Christmassy mantel,  and this year the cats have shown absolutely no interest in the tree at all……….I figure they just think mama has finally flipped and it’s best to simply ignore the evidence……….phew!!!

Last night my neighbourhood had a  luminaria display and it made for a lovely if  a little chilly walk

But that was the perfect excuse to warm up with some Christmas pies when we got home………….mmmmmmmmmm

God I love Christmas,  it’s the most yummy time of the year………….

Happy Holidays everyone!!!  Hope Santa brings you everything you asked for………..

So I’m back from Cleveland after a completely fabulous weekend at the Bazaar Bizarre,  thank you so much for coming and shopping and being so sweet to the critters and me,  I can’t even begin to tell you how warm and fuzzy you all made me feel………but I can show you……

First of course is the always essential booth shot,  this piccie was before the show doors opened and I am glad Markie went around and took it from that side as there wasn’t a lot of opportunity to do it when the shoppers flooded in

and it was like that all day,  I swear the whole of Cleveland was in that building……… completely amazing

Lots of critters decided to call Cleveland home and squeaked out for new family, I could tell everyone was going to be very happy in Cleveland hopefully they will all be well behaved.

And now for the goodies

I love everything I got but there was so many things I wanted it hurt……The Cleveland cards are from Oddball Press and Markie picked them to be his Christmas cards this year……which is probably going to confuse the heck out of the British recipients I can just hear them now……..Ohio?  I thought they were in Illinois?  eh?  where are they?  so anyway……..the zipper pouch with the sheepies is by oblinaknit and the feathery hair clip is by Kaki Brzytwa……..many thanks for the night out girls you were the most fun booth mates EVER!!!!!!   The little concrete acorn is by the oak leaves and they had the most beautiful booth of terrariums and whimsy that I am sure I will be scouring their etsy shop everyday for new goodies but I pounced immediately on the acorn at first sight………good job as almost everything they owned was gone in a matter of hours.

Thanks to everyone again for the love and support and Happy Holidays!!!

Twice the fun,  and twice the piccies to share with you……

First is how my booth looked at the Craftacular in Madison……..my friend Mindy helped me out,  that’s her in the piccie (thank you Mindy) and we had a great time at the show….  thanks to everyone who stopped by the booth and gave critters homes and made us feel so welcome. Every year I am blown away at the support of the organisers, shoppers and the other vendors it really is my favorite show and I consider myself very fortunate to take part in it.

Meanwhile in Chicago

Markie was setting up at the Bucktown Bazzar……..Markie is vey competative,  so he was sending me emails along the lines of “my booth look better than your booth” of course he was wrong,  but I could tell he was having a great time in Bucktown  when he sent me a piccie of Marty’s new dad

So the other great thing about twice the shows…………

Twice the goodies.   I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the stuff I  bought and traded……….see that giant pink ruffle puffball ornament how awesome is that?  It’s made by Sarah Lopez and I kick myself I didn’t pick up a card from her, the earrings are by lula and deedee I love how her work is made by reusing the beads from vintage jewelery and making them fresh and funky again (they are also some of the nicest people you will ever meet).  The photo blocks are by Stella Lily and they speak for themselves so pretty,  The bike t-shirt I got for Markie to thank him for doing the Bucktown show unaided it’s  from baretree apparel and he loved it.  I also got the most beautiful hand made glass necklace from Doug Prell Glass………it’s so pretty and completely unique.

So this Saturday I will be at The Congress Park Vendor Fair  between 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m  at Congress Park Elementary School, 9311 Shields Ave, Brookfield, IL 60513

So if you are in the area please come on over and wish the critters Happy Holidays………

Did you hear that?  That’s what I was told this past weekend at the Red Sled Christmas show in La Grange.   Basically 3 wee girls were given the choice of critters or a trip to build a bear………I was fearful that the critters were going to be rejected for the mighty build a bear…….. but they won……….yaaaaaaaaaaaaaay for the critters,  I tell ya they were squeaking with delight at that news.

Red Sled was a brilliant start to my Holiday Shows and I would like to thank everyone for coming and shopping and being so sweet to me and the critters,  I can’t tell you how much I appreciate the love and support,  and knowing that the critters have wonderful new homes makes me sigh with relief and contentment.  I gotta tell ya though the weather was absolutely wonderful well in the 70s and it felt very odd to be putting up the Christmas trees on my booth…..although wouldn’t it be wonderful if it stayed like that in December too………..fingers crossed,  although I won’t hold my breath.

Here is the obligatory booth shot