I will be the first to admit it, I really fell off with the regular posting!  I'm sorry about that!  The reasons are pretty simple, the holiday season is a busy time for the handcrafter!  They also, I think, would be pretty boring to the outside observer...yes I was all over the place, but all over the place doing the same things on repeat.  I was making the same things, I was selling the same things, not really much to write home about!  This is by no means a complaint, just maybe not the most compelling reading!  Next year I hope to have a back log of posts ready to go to keep everyone entertained during those times when I feel like I'm on repeat!

I have a lot of exciting personal/creative goals for this year that I can't wait to share with you!  I'm excited to have some time to try out some new techniques, new materials, and learn new things, while also slowly building my for sale stash back up before the mayhem hits again!  The first thing you will be able to look forward to is my first toe dip into the world of pattern publishing!  I have 2 patterns written and ready to go, I just need to get them tested.  I hope to have them published by the end of January!  If you have any interest in trying your hand at crochet pattern testing please let me know, I am not at a point where I can pay someone, but I always appreciate and extra set of eyes!  Lets grow our talents together!

For the immediate future I'm hoping that another live craft sale or two pops up before the winter is over, but if you are sitting there shivering please check out my Etsy shop, there is still plenty of great stuff!

And finally, here is a quick rundown of my most recent sales...so at least there can be some photos in this post!

Check back next week...I promise I'll be here!!

Guess what...I'm still sick!  It's like I'm going to cough myself to death!  It has made it hard to do much, and hard to want to do much...so today's blog will just be a little bit of house keeping!  Sorry about that!

First, I've got a big craft show this weekend!  (boy that should be fun while coughing!  weeeeee!)  But really, coughing aside, it will be fun!  This is the 50th Annual See & Sell Holiday Market at the Bicentennial Center in Salina, KS. 

This one was really fun last year and I expect this year will be the same!  I hope some people finally bite on the little gift sets that I made!  It should be cold enough to make people want to buy hats and scarves...so that will be nice!

Next week is Thanksgiving you guys!  Can you believe it??  That means stay tuned for a sale in the Etsy shop Black Friday through Cyber Monday!  I'll be posting a special blog on Wednesday next week to tell you all about it!

Hello!!  I had a bit of a Halloween get together that I was going to tell you about BEFORE Halloween was over so that you could borrow my ideas if you wanted...then I got sick and didn't want to do anything...not even write a fun blog post...so now its after Halloween but I will still tell you about it!  You can save it for next year if you'd like!

I have an annual adult pumpkin carving party.  This doesn't mean we carve naughty things into pumpkins (though that's not prohibited) but instead that the event is more focused on letting adults do something that they often only do with or for their kids.  If you don't have any children I think sometimes you forget to carve pumpkins and how much fun that can be!  Many of my friends do have littles that they bring these days, and that is pretty fun too!

What I do is make too much food and then wander around trying to make sure everyone has a good time!

I really only took photos of the set up in the dining room because it looked the nicest, but I had food in 3 different rooms of the house!  What you won't see is the Walking Dead Tacos station (complete with Zom-beans), the punch and cider stations (though you will see the punch below), and the Bubbling Cauldron cheese dip set up.  You aren't missing much in those areas...mostly just an assortment of crock pots!

The bit I'm most proud of is the Dead Meat Platter!  I saw this on Pinterest and knew it would be easy to pull off!  The hardest part was finding a skeleton that didn't cost an arm and a leg (pun intended!!)!  I found a "Bag of Bones" at Target for $20 and although it didn't have all the bones a complete skeleton might enjoy, it had the most important part...the rib cage!  And it just happened to fit perfectly on my platter!  I got a fancy deli meat tray from Costco, sliced up some cheese...and guts were made!

I had so much fun with this guy and he was a big hit!  This will definitely be a staple item going forward! 

When I say I make a ton of food, I mean it, I make a lot!  I won't go into the full menu here because that would be tedious for all involved!  I just want to highlight a few of my favorite things!  Like these bird claw grabbing sticks!  I loved them so much I bought 2 pairs and its only through sheer will power that I don't use them year round for every thing I can possibly think up!  Aren't they cute!  They are from Target, they were there the past 2 years, but I didn't see them this year.

Those things just make me smile every time I see them!  Seriously best Halloween money I've ever spent!  In past years I've turned a chocolate fountain into a "blood" fountain, but last year I decided it was just too fussy so I skipped it this year.  Got my fair share of blood in though with Room Temperature Monkey's Brains (just rice krispie treats shaped and decorated) and Bloody Bandage Cookies (wafer cookies with a little frosting and jam)!  No party is complete without punch...so I always put out the Witches' Brew Punch...and it always moves quick!  I'll give you the recipe below!

The punch recipe could not be easier!  Each year I just pick a color for it and choose soda and sherbet that match (I also use this at my annual birthday luau).  Here's how you do it:
1 large can Pineapple Juice
1 2 Liter bottle of any carbonated soda
1 container of sherbet

You just pour the juice and soda together and then top it with scoops of sherbet!  So simple!  For this one I used 7Up which wasn't going to make things green enough so I put in a packet of Lemon Lime Kool Aid (just the unsweetened kind, didn't add any sugar) and I like how it turned out.  I used another packet of Kool Aid (mixed per directions this time) and some gloves to make frozen hand ice cubes.  You always want to add an ice with flavor so it doesn't water down your punch.  My other favorite recipe is to use a carbonated fruit punch for the soda (like Tiki Punch or Tahitian Treat), that makes it red and tasty!

So that's it!  I'll finish packing up the Halloween decorations this week (except those that stay year round) and my buddy Angus will lose his cauldron hideout and life will be less spooky (and less fun) for another few months! 

I'm here to tell you guys, having a full time job and trying to keep up with a blog can be a bit difficult!  Mostly what is hard is what is always hard...getting good pictures.  So what I'm getting at is while I have a lot to tell you, I don't have much to SHOW you and who wants to just read a bunch of words!  If you wanted that you'd be over at the Wall Street Journal or something!  Next week I should have some actual projects I can show you, but until then...how about we talk about my upcoming selling events!  Ready?  Ok!

This Saturday I will be a little October tradition called Hammerween at the Granada Theater in Lawrence, KS.  What this is is a combo Halloween party and local metal band showcase with a few vendors!  Most of the vendors are selling more spooky stuff, but even spooky kids need to stay warm!  Its a fun event, I can't wait!

Following that my next event is the Fall Crafts and Drafts presented by The Pitch.  I have not done their fall show before but I did the spring one this year and did surprisingly well considering it was beginning to get warm out, so I am hopeful that we can knock this one out of the park!  There will be all kinds of fun beers to try and tons of local artisans!  I think there will even be yummy food!

Further into November I'll be making the trek to Salina, KS for the 50th Annual See'N'Sell!  This one is really fun for me because it benefits the Girl Scouts, and I was a Girl Scout here and there, and I think its a pretty great organization!  Additionally its like a little road trip!

And that's all I have lined up for the fall winter season! I'll be honest with you, I've applied for some other things, but so far have gotten a hearty "no thank you" all around so if you know of any good sales going on in December who still need vendors let me know!

If you're like me when you get passionate about something you go all in and surround yourself with as much information about it as possible!  This means that I follow like a million yarn and pattern companies, organizations, and individuals across all social media platforms!  I noticed something interesting about a month ago, all at once, as if on purpose, everyone started talking about Super Scarves!  And I do mean Every. Single. One. Having been delighted by the giant scarf that Lenny Kravitz wore out on the town one legendary day, I was all in on this idea!  Soon it was brought to my attention that this was clearly just a ploy for the yarn makers to sell massive amounts of yarn.  I felt like such a rube! A mark!  A guli-bull!  Still...I wanted one.  So when I got a deal in my inbox that Red Heart Boutique Boulevard super bulky yarn would be 99 cents for a day I saw my chance!  I chose a beautiful minty color and I was off!  Here's what I came up with:

Now, with yarn this thick, you can't use just any old pattern, and I couldn't find one that I liked.  I decided to just try out a simple moss stitch and let the bulk do the talking and I think it worked pretty well!  I had to do a bit of tinkering to get a width I liked but with just a few hours, a size Q hook, and 6 balls of yarn I got over 12 feet of warm fluffy goodness!  I had to wrap it around twice here and get lots of drape because my arms, even with a selfie stick, weren't long enough to get a good photo of it worn long and my husband doesn't get to photo assist home until the good light is gone. This thing will be almost like wearing a coat underneath a coat!  I hate winter so much, I'll take any help I can get on making it bearable! 

I'm toying with opening these up for custom orders because it was so fun to make, so keep an eye on my Facebook if you think you might be interested!