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!!!

Yup we are off this afternoon,  heading for the Bazaar Bizarre in Cleveland,  Ohio.  According to google maps it’s a little over 7 hours away…………woooohoooo can you say road trip!!!

Can’t wait to see you all for my final show of the year,  the critters are most excited

As am I how fantastic is that poster?

I’ll see you when I get back as today is a busy day of organizing and packing…………yuck

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………

He is ………can you believe it?   I can,  as he has been hanging out with me for the last few days…….

It’s been kind of off putting having Santa stay at my house as I have so much work still to do for this weekend’s craft fair extravaganza, and he keeps tutting and saying he only gets one night to prepare not weeks and weeks like I had …….personally I’m envious of his elves as I can’t imagine Santa is very handy at making schtuff  at all, at least not that I’ve witnessed…….

So yes this weekend  don’t forget if you are in the Madison area to stop by and say hello to the critters and myself at the

at the Madison Masonic Center, 301 Wisconsin Ave,  the first 50 shoppers get a free goody bag………how sweet is that?

And for the Chicagoans out there stop by the Bucktown Bazaar and say hello to the critters and Markie (I’ll be there on Sunday)

Gaaaaaaaaa so much to do……..I feel like the white rabbit  “I’m late,  I’m late”   best got on with it…………

That’s the sound of the Christmas countdown……Every day the ticking gets a little louder,  and makes me just a little more manic.   Last week I did (finally) manage to get some goodies to Anthology,  The cat and crow and Unique Yarns so a little pressure is of me. But the Craftacular and the Bucktown Bazaar is next week so I need to be VERY productive this week as it’s the 2 shows on the same  weekend……………waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa what was I thinking?

I did make something else new for the shows although I will also list them in the shop………

What do you think?  little snowman hair clips……….I’m going to make a few more as I really like how they turned out…

One of my favourite thing about doing the shows is meeting so many wonderful people and getting the critters a wonderful new home where they will be loved everyday……Last show was Mr Orange’s turn,  Rachel saw him and they fell in love and now he is causing mayhem at her house…

Makes me feel so happy to see him ready to fight for his patch of the tower,  thanks for taking him in Rachel.

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

Can you hear that?  It’s the sound of the critters blowing their trumpets in glee at the awesomely exciting news that critters will now be found at a new home………  at the Contemporary Craft Art Museum in Pittsburgh

Ooooooh lah  dee dah………..Needless to say they are very excited and quite frankly feeling a little pretentious about being in a real art gallery,  I keep reminding them it’s in the store but I think they have stopped talking to me…..apparently I’m far to menial to reach their heady heights of fame…………..sigh………poor me.

What I’ve been working on for ages………..

It’s always a challenge to get prepared for winter shows when needle felting takes so long,  I’ve been knitting mini scarves and stabbying snowmen since the start of July so it’s nice to finally show them to you……..although I do kinda think to soon to share?………….nah It’s almost November,  gulp can you believe it?   I’m shocked at how fast this year has flown by.

Anyway I will be starting to add the Christmas goodies to the shop so grab ’em quick as my first show is less than 2 weeks away……………eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek!!!!!!

I’m not sure I’ve said that enough,  but you guys come up with the coolest suggestions for critters……..and I sincerely thank you for being so cool and brilliant.  Sher (Blinky’s soon to be new owner) requested a chicken ornament sort of a cross between the lil’ roasters and the chunky chickens……….and so here we have the lil’ cluckers

I really am so grateful for the requests,  as sometimes I think my craft mind has a tendancy to get stuck just a little bit in a rut…..especially when I am preparing for shows.    I made a few of these guys as I love how he turned out and seeing as how my quest for egg cups with chicken feet has turned into real holy grail territory maybe this is the way to go afterall.

I guess it’s not going to come as a surprise to you guys when I say I love pop culture,  and so when I got a request for a Blinky the 3 eyed fish from The Simpson’s I was very excited to get started on him.   So excited I got carried away………

I just loved how he turned out and I hope the requester does too ( thanks for the request Sher).    I am hoping to have at least a few of them for  the upcoming shows but of course I’ll list them in the shop too.

I’m loving the Bazaar Bizarre poster and oooooh look at the craftacular poster

With posters like that I can’t wait for the shows.