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).

See you when I get back with all the news and piccies from Bazaar Bizarre……..Happy 4th of July

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 .

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 circus is starting to arrive in  Critterville…….first up Nellyphants

They are kinda tricksy to take piccies of as they are so well trained they go into incredible stacks of amazing wonder as soon as you point a camera at them………but I’m glad they are here and that the circus is coming together……they will be appearing in the shop asap too.

Yesterday we went to Chicago to see She and Him in Millenium Park,  it was crazy busy in the way a free concert in Chicago can only be.  But they were really, really great……not as great as how cool the Geary stage is surrounded by the big buildings though

The park really is a lovely venue for a show,  and it was a brilliant way to spend a sunny Monday night.