Yaaaaay what a fabulous weekend in O’fallon……..it was so much fun and the absolutely perfect way to retire the e z up for the year.

Of course I’ll share how I set up my booth

And the greatest thing of the weekend was that I was right beside my crafty buddy EKRA so I was able to pester her ….errrm I mean help her all day (ahem) look here I am being helpful

The weather on Saturday was absolutely perfect and lots of critters found new wonderful homes

The pink elephant was promptly named Cogsworth,  which I think is rather brilliant and fitted him brilliantly.

Norm the captured gnome found the best new home ever……….He’s going to permanently reside at the O’Fallon public library where he’ll be on display with the fairy tale books,  he’ll love that and hopefully he’ll quit planning on escaping now.

So it was a fabulous weekend,  I met a ton of wonderful people and had a lot of fun………I sure do love me some Strangefolk!

And now it’s back to stabbying as I have some major restocking to do……..

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?

Las Vegas……………woooohooo in a few hours we are Vegas bound,  and I can’t wait!!!!!

You guys should know that if I’m not back with piccies and news in 14 days that I won a million dollars on 7 red………..oooooh how nice (and completely unrealistic) would that be?  very………. as I never play roulette ; )

See you when I get back.

What?  You don’t believe me?……..sure,  sure they are not going to comic con anytime soon (it’s not  really their thing) but hey a hamster has to be fancy dress party ready (oh my how hamsters love fancy dress parties……..just ask one and they will squeak excitedly for days)

Julie sent me a piccie of one of her party ready furry friends…….do you like his cupcake outfit?

Pretty cute huh?  I mean you really can imagine picking him up and eating him he’s so sweet……..or is that just me?

So of course being this cute means that he needs a stabby homage……

No offense to the original hammy but I felt that his costume would have been a little more fun if he had a blob of cream as a hat so I made him a detachable one that he can tie on, should he choose to,  his cupcake I hand sewed from felt.

I hope Julie likes her little furry cupcake as she is one of the vendors from strangefolk (which is how she found me to request this critter).

Speaking of Strangefolk I can’t believe the date is getting closer and closer

I am really excited for this show,  almost as excited as I am to be leaving for Las Vegas on Saturday………wooohoooo I love Vegas!!!!!

Poor ole’  Walter,  all his buddies are leaving for their winter vacations and checking themselves into the fanciest river retreats and Walter will not be joining them……..you see Walter is scared of heights.  It’s pretty tragic,  even standing on the jetty brings Walter out in hives……ever seen a duck belly flop in a panic?  most likely it was Walter.  So Walter is looking for a nice warm home to avoid the winter…..do you know of anything?

Walter will be in the shop soon.

No it’s the super mischief monkeys bringing chaos and mayhem wherever they go.

I made these little caped monkeys at the request of Sher.  Her mother in law had given her children long armed catapulting plush monkeys that the kids loved playing with on their vacation in Florida this year,  so naturally Sher wanted a stabby homage to the vacation and fun everyone had and requested I make goofy monkeys for the family  Christmas tree this year…

And so that’s the story of the super mischief monkeys,  I hope Sher likes what I came up with.  I’m rather smitten with the lil’ fellas I love thinking of the mischief that ensues upon their arrival.

Well ok not tigers and bears exactly,  but anyone who knows me does know that  I am prone to over  exaggerate.  And as  we are heading to Vegas in a few weeks (yippppppppppeeeeeeeeeee) it got my mind ticking to the critters of Vegas,  hence the lions and tigers (is anyone capable of thinking Vegas and tigers and not instantly have the image of Roy being mauled or is that just me?)

So anyway I introduce to you Pierce the little white Lion Cub…..

He’s still a little shy but he’s eager to be a big star like his dad, and his dad before him.  He’s really a born performer.

And he will be appearing in the shop today.  Oh and keep your fingers crossed for me as I am on the waiting list for the Diy trunk show in Chicago,  which I am (nuttily) very excited about……..it would be great to get in but I am feeling terrible about thinking of apocalyptic diseases that may just happen to  befall the crafters that made it in……….aren’t I terrible?  I promise I do feel guilty though : )

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………