I live in my jammies somedays

Whew, what a weekend! I am actually kind of glad for the cold rainy day today as I have an excuse to stay in my jammies. I thought I could be real low key and no one would ever be the wiser to this fact....hmmm WRONG! First my pal Jodi dropped by, that is no biggie as she is more like family than company. But while we sat on the porch (again it's 1:00 pm and I'm in jammies and a polar bear robe) the mailman came and my next door neighbor pulled up. I was so busted! Now you know and a few of the neighbors know that I may or may not get dressed by noon. I consider that one of the perks of the stay at home creator.

The Centennial Holiday Show was a great success for me being the highest $$$ event of the year. If you are considering this event I must say it is very very organized and everyone was extremely polite. Some of the perks were the teachers lounge that provided snacks and a quite place for the vendors, also the students and volunteers came around several times each hour to check to see if we needed anything from the concession booth or would watch the booth if we needed a break. They also provide unloading/loading assistance (for a fee).
I would give this event 4 out of 5 stars. Several returning vendors did say they did about half of what they did last year. The economy is effecting businesses at all levels, which makes it hard to judge events. This is a show I would probably do again next year. I do plan on cutting back on the events next year and be selective, and put focus on local shops and etsy.

Here are some pictures of the "indoor" set up. Note the fixture behind the tables with the aprons hanging? That's the result of several emails and pics from Erika of Kitsch Designs. It was a life saver and now I see many possibilities with this fixture. Erika did stop by the show and gave the thumbs up on the fixture and adopted a owl to take home. Thanks so much Erika!

I have three more times to show this year and then I will be done! A big part of me wishes it was over, I can't go to the shows in my jammies you know.

Centennial Holiday Show

The last big show of the year is this Saturday and Sunday. Whew! I have made a few new goodies....sweet tweets, peeps, aprons and owl shadow boxes. Here is a little preview.
As said in last post I am nervous about this event so send all your good vibes my way this week end. I did get some support from Erika of Kitsch Designs about indoor set up, thanks so much! If you don't know Erika I urge you to check out her sites, she uses vintage fabric to create the coolest things. Plus she is a super duper nice person.

Several of you have inquired about the owl shadow boxes and want to know when they will be available in the store. At this time I'm holding off on until after the events. My last show will be December 19th at Cummins Station downtown Nashville. I did this event last year and really enjoyed it. It is a little different from most events as it is held the first three Fridays in December from 11:00-4:00 in the afternoon. Mostly the employees of the various businesses and the lunch crowd are the customers, but they are very supportive.


Hope to see you this weekend :)

Happy Birthday to me...

Yes, it's my birthday today! Actually we are pretty low key on adult birthdays around here, all relatives are out of town. But I did met my friend Jodi for a afternoon birthday tea celebration. One of the other perks of sharing a booth space is that the other person knows what you like and "gets you". So...I got all kinds of goodies from her! First all the goodies were placed in one of her famous "Trash totes" and let me tell you they hold a ton of stuff. I also received the matching pouch. Inside where two of my favorite Creative Jar pieces, personal art card and look at the all time best ever....the birdie tree! The little birdies are old French dictionary pages, I was with Jodi when she purchased the dictionary. I wish you could see the detail, it's stunning!

My husband got me the Wii Fit on my request. I have dropped a few pounds this year nothing major but at least going in the right direction. I know I need to get moving and active so we'll see. I'll have to update you later.

It's my birthday so I'm going to take it easy today and relax, because the other gift is that my wonderful husband is doing the cleaning this week end, bliss.

Tweets and peeps

See the flock of birdies? I wish I could keep them all...they do look happy in the window don't you think? I know if I left the room they would be in the floor, in Boris mouth or the cat would do a snatch and run, certain disaster for the sweet tweets.

I have ten new additions in the tweets and four new peeps. They will be at the Centennial Holiday Show next week end. I will share with you that I am a little nervous about this up coming event (more than usual). I heard it was "impossible" to get in, I sent my and Jodi's application in at the last minute and we were selected! Then I get this humongous vendor pack in the mail, I mean it was seriously six pages of very detailed information. The main thing was the "Jury Sheet", they come around and judge your booth on six categories. The categories range from craftsmanship to crowd appeal to display. Based on the resulting scores you may or may not be invited back. The main concern for me is the booth display.
With this being an inside event and no tent I have my challenges. I cannot hang my aprons on the clothesline as I normally do. It also seems like a 10x10 area shrinks inside. I know it's the same space but outside it seems larger? Does anyone have any ideas?

Jodi and I have shared booth space for most of the events this year and we are bursting at the seams. It's somewhat bitter sweet for both of us. On one hand out growing the space means we are building our inventory and have more to offer than ever. Sharing also helps with the booth fee costs, but mostly it's the companionship and time spent with a friend.
We both know next year we may not be able to share a booth. As I said bitter sweet.

More Hoots!

The final two hoots have been completed before the show. Again sorry for the glare in the picture, but I think you can still see.
I am working on the free standing hoot as well...see? Not where I want to be right now but getting closer :)

Don't forget I'll be at McGavock High School here in Nashville tomorrow from 9-4!
Handbags, aprons, kids art books, tweets, peeps and hoots will all be there too!

HOOT of a time!

Here is a quick post...just so you can see the hoots. The owls are filled fabric, the branch is from my neighborhood (no trees were harmed, fallen branches), paper background with paper flowers.
The orange one you have seen before but this is a somewhat better picture and I added some new flowers (I may be pushing the limit here). The blue one is a new addition, I am working on 2 more today. Boy are these hard to get a decent picture with the glass glare. Last event I only brought one back home, so hope this new hoots will find homes this weekend. I know I said I would post them in the shop but I am concerned about mailing them. Next trip to the post office I'll take one and see what type of shipping options we have. If you are interested in a hoot just email me and we'll work it out.

Babushka and owls

I have been creating for another you guessed it upcoming event. Actually this week I learned of acceptance to two events this month. The first one is this Saturday at McGavock High School from 9:00-4:00, more info here. The second event will be November 22 & 23 at Centennial High School, more info here. I have never participated in either of these events but have heard nice things about both. At this time indoor events are particularly appealing.
Last year I was doing weekly events at the Nashville Farmers Market...it got very cold and rained more than not. YUCK!

Here are some of the things I've been working on, the owls are hand painted on a full canvas apron. I only have three of these aprons and am tempted to keep one. I still have to paint the other two and am not certain of what I will paint. I really want to do more owls, as I am comfortable painting them at this point. But I will try something different maybe trees or birds?

The babushka move from room to room, I think they miss Amber playing with them. They settled on the dining room table to be my muse.I was inspired by the babushka fabric from etsy and made as much as I could with the four fat eights that I ordered. I have a ton of hair bobby pins, three eye masks and four cup cuffs. I hope these sell...I could never use all those babushka hair pins!

Well I need to start cranking out some more goodies for the shows. Check back I'm sure I'll have more craftiness to share soon.

Artist or Creator

Here are some of the new things I have brewing in the cottage. The owl shadowbox is not exactly new but I have upgraded to a larger size. This is an 8x10 frame and the owl is larger than the last bunch. I was a little overwhelmed at the response to the owl shadowboxes and sold all but one at their debut event. FYI I do plan to list some in the store this week. The blackbird is something I've had in my head for awhile and the bird was drawn about a year ago. As soon as I sketched him out I thought of the song "Blackbird" by Paul McCartney, I love that song.Not sure the bird is complete, I need to change the ribbon for sure and I was thinking of adding some tags to the key. You'll see soon. I thought of putting the bird onto a hand painted Nashville bag and still may do so yet.

I do need to thank my friend and booth partner Jodi Reeves for giving me the encouragement to "branch out". My stash contains paint, brushes, mod podge, wire and a whole lot more. A year ago you would find mostly fabric, thread and buttons. Which brings me back to the title "Artist or Creator"? I have never considered myself an artist, although I know art is not exclusive to a painted canvas. I have been comfortable with creator and think I will stick to that. As women we have the ability to create life! It doesn't get any better than that. I know for myself after I became a mom my creative button clicked and life has never been the same since.

So now that I am putting paint to canvas and "branching out" I think I'll stick to the creator label.

I do have to put a word in about the Webb School of Design event in Bell Buckle......
I helped Jodi the first day (I did not show) and she was interviewed by the Shelbyville paper!
Then she won a ribbon ! Her art was purchased to hang in Webb School! Jodi was the Diva of the Day! Go check her out and get the scoop here.

A GREAT EVENT!

Germantown turned out to be the best $$$ event I have ever participated in. And I must say that they really had their stuff together. As you know I usually share a booth with creator Jodi of The Creative Jar, what you may not know is that Jodi is the founder of CRAFT a creative community and has coordinated many many events. Even she was impressed! Everything was a smooth process from the letter indicating they had received our application to the vendor information letter to the clearly marked set up. I would give it a 4 of 5 star rating. The only feedback is in regard to the separation of events Germantown vs Octoberfest. I believe everyone was not aware of the the event right next door? As usual I think the artist/crafters should have been promoted more....I always feel like that.

Now I find that I must produce to be ready for the next event. A good problem :)
Several tweets and peeps found new homes.
I am out of ruffled aprons and only have one owl shadowbox left. So you will be seeing some more new stuff soon.

Germantown Street Festival

Yesterday I forgot to tell you how to find me at the German town Street Festival this Saturday.
Per my vendor confirmation sheet; we will be located on 5th Ave North between Madison and Monroe. I can hardly wait! I am so excited about this event, I know it will be a blast!

I have been creating like crazy trying to prepare for this and now that I'm a few days away I feel so nervous. So sure I don't have enough inventory....I know that I do but I still have all these ideas in my head that will not be ready Saturday. I am happy that I have the owls, butterflies, new apron style, new Vandie bag, Memphis bag, the Sweet Tweets and now some cool composition book covers! I made some owls and trees last year and wanted to do some again. I always have the composition book covers and they are popular but wanted something special. I like the trees the best.....

Give a Hoot.....Get a Hoot!

Okay a little corny, but owls seem to put me into that mood. Here are three new owls and the last of these shadowboxes (hope I will be able to find more). These little hoots and new butterflies will be available at the German town Festival this Saturday.

CRAFT a creative community event

I have had an awful week of no production! I thought today would be "the day",but my hubby had a list of errands that must be taken care of today. So I am now just getting home and thinking that I'll have to start dinner in an hour so no time to start something :(

I do have a new owl shadowbox to share...the butterflies will still be available but wanted to try something different. The stuffed owl is based on a Japanese Craft book pattern. You can find more owl inspiration here.

During my errands today I found myself at Joann's fabrics and found a brand new line by Heidi Grace Designs. Yes of course I had to have some, it's has a very vintage, retro 60's vibe to it. I may need to go back and get some more...it is on sale!! I'm seeing aprons with this combo, just too cute.



Lastly a shameless plug for the CRAFT a creative community event this Sunday in East Nashville. After this month we will only have one more event this year. So don't miss out and come on to support local artisans/creators.