That means Spring is 19 days away,  yipppeeeeee!!!!  and as we all know Spring means it’s almost Summer….and jeeesh I can’t wait for summer.  Anyway I’ve been very busy with the critters the last couple of weeks…..and I’m finally gonna update the shop with a couple of new guys.

First up is the oddballs

I can’t tell you just how much I LOVE making these guys…….they always make me smile when they are finished and I love that they all have distinct and very odd personalities,  much like myself.   As of last week a bunch of Oddballs decided to head on out to pastures new and  can be found in their only Wisconsin home,  Zip Dang on Monroe Street in Madison.  How very exciting!   I just hope they behave themselves.

I also made some mini bears

They sure are cute……..And last week they decided that the Glitterworkshop in Madison was the only place perfect enough for their picnic parties.  I will add a couple of oddballs and teddies to my Etsy shop for fun though as it seems like a very long time since I’ve put anything new in there………oooooops.

I also just made a facebook page for the critters (wow, that took a while huh?)  so as Sally Field once gushed………Like me,  please like me…..Lulu’s Stabby Critters on facebook

So initially I came up with the title of this post to tell you all about my California vacation,  but as the days dragged on and my procrastinating about blogging continued,  I figured it was an apropos title for my sloth like behavior since returning from the land of blue skies to the land of snow and ice.

California was wonderful.  The Del Coronado was it’s usual wonderful, welcoming self and many a day was spent hanging out with my Coronado island buddy Marie whilst Markie was attending his protein conference.

Marie is a super talented artsy type, and she makes fabulous bags and goodies and she is super nice and the perfect Thelma to my Louise…..

A lot of time was also spent on the beach rescuing critters from gulls

Do you see the size of the little guy?  He was huge,  and so were the 2 gulls who had found him before I did……… fortunately for him they backed off when I came crashing along the beach looking for sand dollars.  He is still living his crabby life,  just a little further up the beach now.

La or Smell A as Marie calls it was brilliant too.  It was truly the Hollywood experience this time around as they were filming the muppet movie less than a block from our hotel.  It was so great to watch the big song and dance number being filmed outside the El Capitan I was so excited to see Miss Piggy and the gang (I was a huge fan as a kid never missed a show) and we made a buddy in Tom the extra…….he was hilarious and made watching the filming extra entertaining.   We also got to discover that Jason Segel cannot dance and Amy Adams has the patience of a saint.

It was so cool as they filmed on Hollywood Blvd almost every night of our stay……so I was very disappointed they had finished the night before we left……what would we do instead?  Oh I know hang out with paparazzi outside Katsuya by stark and watch the stars arrive to be photographed and seen…….oh I mean get dinner (ahem,  yeah right!).  In the 40 mins we waited we got all the celebrity gossip from the papazzi and saw Lorenzo Lamas (remember him?) apparently he’s going to be on dancing with the stars so he caused a flurry of activity for the paps and someone I was actually excited to see Nicole Scherzinger of the pussycat dolls……she was really nice and smelled so good,  she must spray herself with perfume constantly.

I did get a piccie snapped of me and Nicole but no I wont share it………….it does nothing for my self esteem.

So along with lots of shopping and eating and hanging out it was the perfect break from the cold snowy days.  Sorry it took me so long to share my news,  I’ll be back to share all the crittery goods I’ve been working on and am working on really soon……..promise,  and my fingers aren’t crossed.

It’s that time of year again……yup it’s pep talk time for Markie ,  which is always especially lovely for me as we  get to stay at the Del on Coronado island for a whole week.  Oh how I love the Del.   While we are there it’s going to be our 12 year wedding anniversary (can’t believe it’s been 12 years already).  So anyway I’ll give you an update  of the trip when we get back which will be around the 25th as we are also going to Los Angeles for a bit too……….yaaaaaaaaay I’m excited.

I thought I’d share a couple of  my favourite custom orders I did over the holidays…….First up I made an homage to Goo,   Goo is the beloved teddy bear of Andrea’s baby Bennett and looks like this

and then my stabby recreation

I hope Andrea liked him,  I thought he was a real cutie and he got me thinking of the possibility of little bears for the ole’ craft booth…………we will see.

I also got my Mario fix for the year as Elizabeth requested a Yoshi kart…..

Yoshi was probably my hardest challenge in a very long time,  the kart was very hard to figure out how to make it look convincing in wool.  But I love how it turned out and I hope Elizabeth does too.

Speak to you after the 25th as I’m off to pack for California………..yipeeeeeeeeeeeee

What do you mean what’s Hogmany?  It’s what us Scots call New Years Eve,  and it’s when  we get all sentimental and of course have a drink……. merely to help us reflect on the past year you understand.   I for one can’t believe that a whole year has passed already,  not that I want 2010 to hang around for much longer.   Personally it hasn’t been a bad year for us but it certainly looks like it’s been more than difficult for so many others and I hope 2011 will be much kinder.

We did manage to make it out to the Christkindl Market in Chicago’s Daley Plaza this year (we messed up and missed it last year).  I love the market it’s all Christmassy and Mark made a few purchases for my stocking that were a lovely surprise on Christmas morning…….I’ll share my Christmas goodies in a blog post next year as I haven’t taken piccies of anything yet.

So I wish you all a wonderful Healthy and Happy 2011 and raise a glass and say Happy New Year Everyone…..I hope it’s a good one.

Santa Claus is coming to town………Eeeeeek It’s looking very Christmassy in Critterville.  The Christmas dinner has been ordered from Whole foods (cooking is not one of my “special” skills) the tree is decorated and stockings are hung by the fireplace.  And there is a warm glow in my cheeks,  although that’s probably more due to the Sierra Nevada Christmas beer…..yum festive.

I’m wrapping up the last of my custom orders and getting ready to enjoy a quiet Christmas at home.  AAAAAaaaaaaah how I love my annual tradition of locking the door on the 23rd and not unlocking it again until at least the 27th……bliss.

I thought I’d give you a little recap of the truly brilliant Bazaar Bizarre that happened in Cleveland last weekend.  Lots of Critters found truly awesome homes

I just love this show,  I bought lots of goodies and got to hang out with a couple of my favourite crafters ever,  Amy (oblinaknit) and Michelle her booth helper.

It’s always extra fun hanging out with them even if Michelle is a little addicted to texting,  thanks ladies for being so brilliant.  My booth you ask?  well ok I’ll share

There really was only one problem with my booth and that was that I was located right by  Lilly’s chocolates………oh my god!!!!  that stuff is deliciously good especially the chomp bar,  we chomped all day and bought a little stash for Christmas……..I love Christmas yummmmmmmmmm

Thank you so much to all the wonderful shoppers who stopped by to say hello I truly wish you all a Merry Christmas.

18 days to Christmas,  can you believe it?  What I am more shocked by is that it’s only 4 days until Bazaar bizarre …….and my final show of the season.   Speaking of shows I figured  I’d give  you a little pictorial update of the last couple of weeks…..

The crafty fair…….

The Rockford handmade market which was a wonderful show,  Danielle the organizer had the prairie st. brewhouse looking so beautiful and Christmmassy  it was a delight just to be in there.   I was thrilled to be included with so many talented creative people all from the Rockford area…….I got so much cute schtuff  like the cutest little sock monkey from socks that rock,  I seriously kept having to drag myself away from staring at her booth as I wanted all her little zombies to come home with me.  I also got  2 fabulous knit ornaments from glissknits and the coolest Christmas stocking made from a burlap coffee sack from burlapworks,  it’s so cool and unique and looks totally fab hanging at my fireplace.

We got our tree on Sunday and yes it came home the traditional way

Aaaaaah nothing like driving home from the tree lot with a 6 foot tree sticking out the back of the mini cooper to make me feel all festive.

So that’s all for now,  as I’m busy trying to get new critters for Bazaar Bizarre……….

eeeeeeek I am so excited for this show,  I love Cleveland!!!!!

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving.  As a Scottish person living in the US it is a bizarrely unique and completely odd day,  but still it’s a day off work and a reason for a parade.  So it’s a little unfair that I  renamed  Thanksgiving a long time ago  ” The Christmas Spoiler holiday”.  Still I have lots of things to be thankful for and I am very grateful for everything we have.

I told you last post that the rather wonderful Rosy organizer of the Crafty fair had managed to score a full page promotion of the show in the onion and here it is

my mischief monkeys were featured and they also give me props for my super Mario ornaments……..way too cool.  And the show was packed all day with shoppers it was really a lot of fun.  I also got a brilliant commission from a shopper,  after purchasing a large santa table topper she requested I made an old world rabbi.  After googling old world rabbi and google helpfully suggesting I meant old world rabbit I came up with this guy

I really like how he turned out,  and hopefully Linda does too.

Have you seen Potter yet?   oooooooh it’s so good,  nothing says the holidays are coming like a Potter movie.  I,  of course,  saw it at midnight when it opened.   Last weekend we went to Chicago to see it on the Imax which was highly fortuitous timing for a trip to Chicago as it was the DIY Trunk show at Pulaski field house,  which gave me the excuse to go and pester  my crafty buddy Ekra…….wooooohoooo.   It was a really good show and I kept thinking if just one vendor had  a cold I’d be here with the critters right now……….sigh hopefully I’ll make it next year and not be on the waiting list again.  I did make a few awesome purchases so some Christmas pressies are at least taken care of.

Saturday is the Bucktown Bazaar

So I am busy, busy, busy……….what else is new?

Yup, yup Stabbyland is a whirlwind of activity right now……..lots of late night candle burning critter making sessions going on as I am busily preparing for Sundays Crafty fair

This show should be so much fun…..and Rosy (the  rather fab organizer) got  the show a feature in the onion’s event guide for Madison how cool is that?  apparently my mischief monkeys were featured in the listing……….eeeeeeeek how exciting and I can’t wait to check it out when I hit Madison this weekend.  Another exciting event for Madison this weekend  is the Grand Glitterworkshop re-opening on Saturday,  Naomi (the store owner and organizer extraordinaire of the craftaculars)  is theming the store as a forest friend woodland theme so it gave me the perfect excuse to add a new critter to the critter box family…..

It’s Mr fox

He along with some squirrels, hedgies and other forestie critters headed out for the store opening so I’m looking forward to seeing them in their new home,  and I of course made a few extras to add to the shop.

I’ve been having a lot of fun this week…..it’s hard not to when you see who I’ve been hanging out with

cute aren’t they?  even if they are monsters and can only say nyum, nyum nyum………I’m not sure what it means but they all get very excited at the chant.  So why have the monsters come into my life?  well they are part of a bunch of critters heading for a store in Australia,  how exciting is that?  I tried to explain the land down under  to the lil’ guys but you guessed it just more nyum, nyum nyums and bouncing up and down.

I thought I’d let you see my booth at the rally for sanity and/or fear in St Louis last week

How cool is that?  It was so awesome to be right at the arch (maybe I’m easily amused) I could barely contain my excitement at the venue and kept wandering off to check out the arch and the crowds (sorry and thank you Markie) the weather was absolutely fabulous and  the crowd really was brilliant I wish I’d taken more piccies

Lots of costumes and silly banners my favourite was a couple dressed as Alice and the mad hatter from Alice in Wonderland who had a sign that read “because a tea party in congress would be madness”  utterly brilliant and I kick myself for not snagging a picture of the pair………….grrrrrrrr.

So this weekend is the official start of my slew of Holiday shows with the Red Sled In La grange, Illinois

I love this show,  it really does make me start to feel excited for the holidays and I just love the folks that come to say hi to the critters.  I also added another Christmas show to my schedule (I’m quite mad ya’know) it’s the Logan Square holiday art show in Chicago

I couldn’t resist applying for this show as it just looked so cool,  I’m completely thrilled we’re going to be a part of it.

So back to critter creatin’  have a great week.

Meet me at the rally

In a few hours we are heading of to St louis for the weekend for the Daily show’s  rally to restore sanity and or fear……the main event is actually happening on the national mall in DC but there will be a craft fair going on at the base of the gateway arch and beer and food vendors and a giant jumbotron showing the rally live ……..How cool is that?  I’m very excited about it,  I am also excited that thanks to the wonder of Hotwire we are staying at the mega fancy Hyatt St Louis Arch hotel tonight……yipppppppeeeeee.  What a fantastic weekend I cant wait!!

Some new Christmassy critters will be making the trip with us (is it too early?  I can never tell)

I told you I had been busy…….I love the santa hat wearing pengies……I got these little felt santa hats and I think they look absolutely perfect on the lil’ guys.

So now it’s back to packing and prepping for the trip (groan) not my favourite thing in the whole world but I can’t wait to get on the road so I guess it’s worth it.  Hope I see you in St Louis for the fun.