a little parade

I am doing two holiday markets this year, the first one is this coming saturday. I'm a little nervous that despite all my efforts to make sure that I'm drowning in stock (my poor studio is about to stage a protest, its growing weary of the abuse) that I won't have enough for both shows.

I've cleared everything out of my schedule (even going so far as to buy frozen meals from Trader's Joe for the week) so that I can hunker down and work and make sure that there is plenty to go around.

It makes for dreadful blogging. It would be a lot of me waving things at the blog saying "Hey! Look at this!" and "Hey! I took a couple stitches on this! Isn't it thrilling?"

Yeah. Not so much.

So I've been quiet and so has the blog and the whole circle makes me all twitchy. (I do love the blog so.)

In an effort to keep things alive and well here, I decided to do a mini parade of a couple of the things that I'll be selling. The things being shown are getting a little mention here because they have, in one way or another, managed to torture the snot out of me over the past week. In fine fashion, I have turned my studio time into yet another I Love Lucy episode and I figured that in itself is entertainment enough.



Wishing owls:


I made these little guys last year. I love their chubby stumpy little bodies. They are small, about the size of your hand. I've been hauling them around between the sofa and the studio, stitching and fussing over them like you wouldn't believe.

See their adorable little eyeballs? (Click the photo to make it bigger so you can admire them.) They are fabulous in every way humanly possible - except when you accidentally bat them off your work table and watch helplessly as they fling themselves across the room onto some freshly screen printed fabric. (My fault really, I lay things out on the floor to dry. I need a better system...)

The up side? The paint I use truly is water based with easy clean up...

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Mini tote bags:



I've been itching to get some tote bags into the shop for a while. I've debated dyeing canvas ones to print or sewing up my own. In the end, I decided to give these charming little fellows a try.

They are 13" square and sport 14" long handles. They are made of simple cotton fabric. They won't be hauling all your groceries or other heavy fare.

But they are friendly and sweet and just the perfect thing to fold up and keep in your purse for when you have something small that needs carrying. They do also work well for smaller scale knitting projects (I've forced myself to test this over the past month. It was a hard task to take on but I endured.)

Since its my habit to lay things out to dry on my studio floor, it became crowded quickly. (I've got 18 printed up and going to the shows. If they get a good response, I'll bring them to the etsy shop.) You see where this is headed, right?

The really impressive part is that I managed to walk across one and not notice it. The paint was not quite dry and tacky enough that it stuck to my sock so I drug it down the hallway before noticing it was there.

Graceful, aren't I?

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Crocheted scarves:




I found a really cool vintage ripple scarf pattern and since I have a healthy yarn stash, I decided to put some of it to work.

I knew which yarn I wanted to use. Finding it was another matter. As I couldn't find the yarn I wanted, I employed another kind but could never quite warm up to it. But you know who did like the second choice yarn? The westie.

I came downstairs one afternoon to find little man carrying around a half crocheted scarf in his mouth. He was rather proud of himself as he tripped over it and then proceeded to hack from all the fuzz he managed to inhale.

I guess I should thank him because it forced me to go back into the stash (not a place for the faint of heart) and find the yarn I wanted to use in the first place (which is what the scarves above is made from). Even the westie knew better that the second choice sucked. See? He's looking out for your well being too, I've trained him well.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Assemblages:


You'd think that after this I would have had enough but nope, I can't help myself. And yes, that is screen printing on the background. Honestly? Are you surprised? If I can screen print it, I will. Rock on. :)

Several people have asked me what the obsession with birds and eggs and nests is about. Dunno. Your guess is as good as mine. Truth is I just like them and sometimes that's good enough.

I discovered that my tube of Weldbond glue was nearly empty when I sat down to glue the eggs in. In my effort to see if it was simply clogged or if there was nothing left to be had, I can now offer you this advice: don't point the tube opening at your face while checking. (Glue and glasses don't mix that well. Neither does glue up the nose. Just sayin'.)

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Felted bowls:


I dig these. I made some last year too. All things wool make me happy. I decided this year to shape the bowls a little bit differently and add a penny rug detail to the bottom. I still need to stitch the circles, that's my activity after this post is done.

The only real challenge these fellows posed is the fact that wet wool smells like wet dog. A lot. No matter what you do. So the felting process was loads of fun.

I plan to burn a bunch of screens to take along too. Its my personal goal to convert everyone I possibly can to screen printing. Come on, you know you want to...

I have several other items but for the most part, they were behaved. I'll grab a few shots at the marketplace, I'm hoping we have another good turnout like last year. The group worked hard to promote it and there's going to be tons of cool stuff there.

For all the hard work that goes into it, I do have fun making the stuff. I am, however, looking forward to getting back to making some artwork that isn't for anything particular.

But for now? I've got more stock to make, time to get back to work!