let's spend the hottest day of the year outside all day

Yes, that title is pretty accurate.  Two weekends ago, Kinsey and I did a local craft show in the area - Summerfair in Carlisle.  We never did the show before and weren't sure how it would go.  It was a little bit different than the shows we usually do, but the space was cheap and it was close.  

The weather was the hottest day of the year...103 degrees!  Luckily, we did have a little shade from our tent. 

While we didn't sell out of our art/crafts, this was an excellent time to try out using a canopy tent.  We never really needed one before, but knew we'd eventually need one as we were planning to do more and more shows.  What I didn't realized was how expensive they are!   After much research, I was able to find an amazing deal on Sears.com and purchased ours for under $50! ( And free store pick-up.)  We wanted one that was quick to put up and didn't involve trying to fit together a million poles.  This one is the Ez-Up brand and literally goes up in minute.  So nice!  

This also was the most space we've ever had at a craft show.  We brought all the folding craft tables we could fit in our car (3!) and each had one and a half tables for our work.  This was such a huge change! We're used to trying to squeeze all our stuff on one little 8 foot table!  While I would have liked to bring more props for height, I think this was definitely our best looking set up to date.  

I made map banners to hang around our tent and on some of the tables.  Kinsey made some chalkboards for his display, which turned out really nice.  

The sun is really glaring in this picture, but I really like how Kinsey attached some of his prints on the outer side of the cube shelf.  This really caught attention from people.  

boy meet girl

So it was only a matter of time.  Everyone has been asking and telling me I really need to make one.  And here she is:

Get ready plush boys.  Look for the first girl in the next day!  Available exclusively in the shop.

if you're in Virginia...

Chester, Va to be exact- stop by Handmade Happiness Boutique!  It's a brand new store filled with all kinds of handmade jewelry, art, plush, paper goods, and more.

And it's the new (temporary until they meet a good family!) home of some of my plush elephants, boys, and rocket ships!

I unfortunately have not yet been able to go myself to check out the goodies.  They just opened a few weeks ago.  This store is run by the amazing jewelry designer MaryEllen from Twist Style. 

(Photos by TwistStyle)

rattle, rattle

As I mentioned a few posts ago, I recently have begun sewing soft rattles.  I've often seen rattles in some of my craft books and always thought they seemed simple enough, but never really gave them a try.  Then I found myself with less than a week to go before Spring Bada Bing and felt like I needed a smaller plush item for sale.  Something fairly quick to do (seeing as I like to have at least 10 of all my items at shows), interesting, fun, and inexpensive.  Enter the soft rattle:

I chose to create a pattern that was reminiscent of an animal, without doing the entire body of an animal.  I'm calling the shape a giraffe head, however a horse head fits the bill (or rattle in this case) as well.  The rest of the rattle tapers out slightly, but is really simple.  

These rattles gave me the opportunity to use some of the many fabrics I've been saving for "that special" project.  The "special" project you always plan to use all the fabric that you're afraid to cut and mess up and waste on something common.  For me, I've been hoarding pretty fabrics for "the quilt" I've been planning to make for my bed for 3 years now.  Well, I'm no closer to that quilt than I was when I made that promise.  However, I have increased my "pretty" fabric collection much.  Kinsey got me some really great fabrics this past Christmas and I had yet to use them.  

This rattles gave me the perfect reason to try some of my fabrics out!  They're small enough so they don't take a ton of fabric and the fabric really makes the rattles.  

Most of the fabrics I've been using are 100% organic cotton...another bonus for something that will be chewed and drooled upon.  

I'm really pleased with how they turned out and they sold very well at the show.  I'm already planning more shapes and styles.   They are currently available in the shop.  

back from our spring trip down south!

Last weekend, Kinsey and I were in Richmond doing Spring Bada Bing.  We look forward to this show every year and have been attending it for 6 years and have been a vendor for 5 years.  This year was by far the best for us and I was so happy with how our table turned out.  

This year, my main offerings were soft toys.  I've really been focusing on the area of plush toys quite intensely now for the past 5 months.  

This was my first show with the plush rockets and boys, so I was excited to see how they would be received.  Rockets were by far my most popular item - I almost sold out!  

Another new item I had for the first time were soft rattles, which went over very well as well.  

(Oh and here's how nerdy I can be: I totally got really excited when I saw Sherry and John Petersik from younghouselove.  And even more excited when they stopped and my table and chatted for a few minutes!)

Before we headed to Richmond, we spent a week visiting my grandparents who live just south of Myrtle Beach.  Early April is such a wonderful time to go to the beach.  See all the people out on the beach?  Oh wait, there's hardly anyone.  Warm weather, clear skies, and local strawberries!!

While we were in South Carolina we took a day trip to Charleston.  We were searching for a place to eat lunch when we came across this quiet, old church cemetery right off a busy street.

I'll be sharing some more pictures in the next day of one of my favorite places I've ever visited while down south. 

my soft toys are going to be published!

Remember not too long ago when I talked about sending my box of soft toys off to Stuffed magazine?

I just found out today that my elephants and twin boys will be published in the upcoming issue!  The elephants will featured in one article and the boys in a second article!  I'm so excited about seeing them in print!  It will be a little while though...the next issue won't be out until July 1st.

Can't wait!

In the meantime, I've been working on getting my craft room in order and finally had time to make a few new elephants.  Here's the first one that I just listed in the shop.

you + me...things for valentine's day

Here's a quick sampling of a few things in my shop and Kinsey's that would be perfect gifts for Valentine's Day (if you're into giving gifts on that day and everything).

#1: Jellys in Love Embroidered Wall Art Hoop

They're holding tentacles and seem to like each other quite a bit!

#2- My Wife is the Best Giclee Print

What more can you say?

#3- We Are Better Together Giclee Print

Great colors and very fun.

coming soon....

Hard at work finishing up the final version of these boy plushes.  They are the very first "human" plush I've done and so far I'm pleased with the results.  Here's a quick peek at how they are shaping up.

Look for them soon!  

new clutches....

I recently took a little break from making plush toys and went back to sewing clutches.  I used to make almost solely clutches, which usually included trees and grassy hills.  I still make them, but not as much.   However, once I made one of these, I knew I had to make more.

The fabric that lines the clutches is one that I've had for quite a while.  Kinsey saw it at our local fabric outlet and thought we should get at least 2 yards (I think it was really cheaply priced...maybe $1.98 a yard?).  I wasn't quite into the colors and wasn't sure, but I went ahead and got a few yards.  It sat untouched for some time.  Then I found it again.  And loved it.  Moral: Always listen to your husband in the fabric store even if you think his selection is a little off.  (Kinsey always picks out great prints, even if I don't think much of them at the time.)

I really like the off center jellyfish next to the small fabric circles and french knots.  These clutches just came together really fast and quite beautifully.  I'll be keeping one for myself.

I've done jellyfish clutches before, but these really stand out to me.  These are currently available in the shop.