Its Friday!

Woo hoo!

To answer Karen, I did ok at the EIllijay Market. I sold one painting but I did get to pass out some business cards and got a lot of compliments on my stuff. I will be back at the Hall Co. Market this weekend.

So I rescued a 6 foot blow mold Santa from the neighbor's dumpster, as well as a foot stool and a double head board. I am in the process of repainting the Santa. Lulu has taken the foot stool and is rehabbing it for a table for her bracelets at the Market. I have primed the headboard and will be painting it white and sage with magnolias.

I've made a few other art pieces lately:

Ellijay Farmer's Market This Weekend

I will be at the Ellijay Farmer's Market this weekend. They actually promote handmade crafts, unlike the Hall County Farmer's Market. I am hoping I have some better luck. Scott is going to help out his family with his aunt who just had back surgery. It also means I keep to shop my very favorite thrift store. This is the same store where I found some vintage McDonalds fabric for $1 and sold it for $90.

I have a newly listed hat. It was inspired by a fellow seller with an incredible shop: http://bonzie.etsy.com.

I bought several framed mirrors during my last IKEA expedition and I decorated a couple last night. This one sort of reminds me of vintage Florida colors. I have a few other's to list. I will be bringing them to Ellijay as well. Wish me luck!

Les Fleurs Jolies

 

I was so happy to get this piece made. I've been thinking of it for days now. Its on a piece of door that was in our neighbor's dumpster....shhhhhh. I have it listed for $38 in the shop. I have a couple more pieces of door that I am working on. Sadly, they took the dumpster away. But they replaced it with a new and empty one so who know's....

The next piece involves a deer antler. I need to find some eye hooks.

Craft for the Birds

 

Ok, so this is not an original idea. I had seen this on etsy, and it looked like something the kids could do. I purchased the grapevine ball at Hobby Lobby. Believe it or not, the kids stuck bits of yarn and fabric in this thing for a good 20 minutes with little argument. Its probably a little late in the season for nesting but who knows? We just might find a bird nest with some gold glitter yarn woven into it. We've nestled the ball in a crape myrtle out front.

The Afghan of Love and Scraps

 

I've always wanted to make a mish mash scrap afghan big enough for two people to snuggle under. This is a MONSTER. Its probably 7 feet wide. I've been working on it for about a week now. Its double stranded. I have two balls of yarn going that are scraps tied together.

I am not looking forward to tucking ends...

Father's Day

Well, so much for big plans. Fern felt hot last night and woke up with a pretty high fever of 102.6 under the arm. She threw up once (all over me - hey, at least it wasn't dad). Her fever has sort of come and gone all day, but no more puking and a whole lot of nursing. At least I know she is hydrated.

We gave Scott his gifts: a half-pint of Jim Beam, a bar of Pabst Blue Ribbon Soap, a new rain gauge, and some scratch-off tickets. We had previously given him a hoe. He took Lulu to the pool this afternoon.

This evening, its hot wings, cole slaw and homemade ice cream with peaches.

Yesterday, we noticed a few fruit trees near the road on the way to the house. Turns out they are sugar pears and damson plums. Scott and Lulu went and got permission from the folks to pick them. Lulu and I picked a few plums last night but we need to go back with a ladder. Its going to make the BEST jam. The pears aren't quite ready but we will be back when they are!

The shop is going well. I've sold quite a bit lately, even hats and scarves.

Speaking of crochet, I am working on a HUGE AFGHAN. Pics tomorrow.

The Garden is Coming Along!

 

 

 

 

We have a few tomatoes turning and the squash are coming. We have nine squash plants - Scott cannot get enough squash apparently. We can sell or donate the excess.

An Addiction to Handmade Soap

Between my friend who makes goat's milk soap and all of the soapers on etsy, I have become addicted to handmade soap. Commercial soap is really nothing more than a harsh detergent with the glycerin removed. The handmade soaps are so much nicer. Today, I placed an order from http://dennisanderson.etsy.com. He has lovely soaps, and recently quit his real job to pursue his soaping full time!

I purchased tangerine bergamot, peppermint oatmeal, pomegranate olive oil, lavender fields (I love lavender), the poor man's beer soap (for Scott for Father's Day), and some lotion in a Blackberry Amber scent.







Bath and body items are probably my favorite things to purchase on etsy. I have a a few soapers like Dennis and Hiromi (http://soap.etsy.com) that I purchase from regularly, but I also have a long list of shops that I will try in the future eventually. Really, once you use handmade soap, you cannot go back to the store crap.

The girls and I ended up going to IKEA today. All of our kitchen chairs are old and broken so I picked up 4 Herman chairs. I got a few new towels, some potholders, scissors, and a beach tote. I put the girls in the childcare there and they had a blast. I enjoyed a little peace and quiet as I tried every chair IKEA had to offer. I really liked the clear ones but they were $90 each.

I've got to get back into the gym again. I've been lazy of late and I gained back the 12 lbs I lost. I have a raging ear inner infection that makes me dizzy, so hopefully this antibiotic will do the trick. There is no denying that I will have to have surgery eventually to get rid of these chronic ear infections. Ugh.

The garden is coming along. We had our first harvest on Sunday. I harvested the Swiss chard, and sauteed it with some garlic and olive oil. Lulu loves it, Fern not so much. We do have one red tomato and a few green ones. The beans are coming along too. We cut down the size of the garden a little this year so hopefully we can keep up with picking.

Pretty soon, it will be blueberry picking time and we will make jam. When peaches come in, we'll do preserves. They make lovely Christmas gifts and its fun to do together.

Speaking of family time, we are on the lookout for a big tent, like an 8 person tent. Yes, we are only 4 but I am very claustrophobic and need the extra room. We are so looking forward to taking the girls camping at some point this summer.

MEDUSA of the Woods

These are a couple of newly listed items in the shop. Love those eyes!

Very exciting news! I am finally getting a dress form. Scott's aunt has one in her basement that she is giving me. w00t! I am hoping that using it to photograph my clothing will make a big difference in sales.

I managed to snag a treasury yesterday. Check it out here:

http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=49072

I did wake up to find I sold a painting. "Rosemary Takes a Bubble Bath" is on its way to a new home.

Pictures from the Yard

 

 

 

 

More pictures as promised. The headboard and the concrete stand are things I found by the side of the road. I will probably make a bird bath to go on the stand. The headboard will probably get painted and used in my Farmer's Market booth.

There are more pictures of the garden, and a couple of the bluebird houses.

I have been fascinated with guerilla knitting. I started this purple piece and then realized it was too narrow to go around much, so I made Scott a hoe cozy.

Garden of Eating and Bluebirds Too!

This is our 2008 veggie garden. We are growing sweet corn, tomatoes, eggplant, hot peppers, banana peppers, carrots, onions, potatoes, green beans, Swiss chard, cucumbers, yellow squash, and zucchini.

We also have blueberries, apple trees, grape vines, and a fig bush. I will have some more pictures once I get them turned around and saved.

Oh, and we have a total of 9 bluebird eggs between the two boxes! How exciting! If they all hatch and fledge, that will make a total 14 this season. I also spotted a quail this morning as we drove down the dirt road. It was just peaking out from some poison ivy. I went to take a picture and it ran off.

Oh and mercury is in retrograde? That apparently explains a lot about the absolutely insane week I had last week.

I will be listing a ton of new stuff this week - fabric cuffs, vintage lingerie, a new baby blanket, two scarves, and even a few pillowcase dresses. That means dragging out the iron....OH NO!

Oh and I'll give you a peak at one of Scott's Father's Day gifts next time!

Locks of Love Donation!

 

I took the girls to get their summer haircuts yesterday. Lulu and I talked about donating her hair to Locks of Love a few times of the last few months. At first she wanted to do it since her penpal also did it. Then, she changed her mind. Well yesterday, she decided she wanted to donate her hair. So the folks at Great Clips did their thing and Lulu was able to donate 4 10" long ponytails of gorgeous hair. I am very proud of her.

In bluebird news, we currently have one box with 4 eggs and a second box with 3 eggs last time we checked. We fledged 5 birds a few weeks ago before adding the second box. We think we have enough room for a couple more boxes.

I have made some nice sales lately through the shop. I woke this morning to see that I sold my pink and black gardening visor. Hooray! It was very cute.

I am furiously trying to keep up with spring and summer stock while also making new items for my fall collection of hats and scarves. I have some really interesting things in the works. Stay tuned!