busy times

This is what I have been doing the past couple months... Getting ready for my very first craft fair. It takes place tomorrow! Yikes! Here is a sneak peak of what I've been up to:

Spray paint time!

Putting my Trader Joe's sign skills to work!

Flyer up at work.

Stamps to make tags with!

What a deal!

Floor plan planning

 

I am so excited to put all of this stuff together! More pictures to come! If you are in the Long Beach area, I hope to see you tomorrow!

Find more info here: Patchwork Indie Arts Festival

a wee bit o' cuteness

We started a monthly coloring contest at Trader Joe's. This was an entry from an eleven yer old girl. In case you can't read it, on the front her favorite item is a $100 gift card. She noted that she wants it so she can get whatever she wants because her parents like "healthy stuff".

On the back she wrote:

"The shoe the lepercon is wereing my grandma has them she Polish like the Lepercon."

Darling.

Happy St. Patrick's Day.

Enjoy your beer.

patchwork

 Awhile ago I decided that I wanted to try selling at a craft fair of some sort. I always enjoy attending that type of event and feel like my stuff does better in person than in photos online so I decided that this is the year to do it! Today I sent my application in to be a part of the Patchwork Indie Arts and Crafts Festival. I am not sure if I will actually be selected to participate because there are a limited number of spots and they get lots of people wanting to sell there. But hey! Why not try? The show isn't until May 20th which gives me a lot of time to bulk up my back stock. Thank goodness. I already started going crochet crazy the last couple of weeks. I have been turning out coffee cozies and headbands like a maniac. The people running the festival look through all of the applications and select vendors that are unique and that will provide a well rounded show and shopping experience. The application says that I should know if I am in by April 10th. Yikes.

Now I have to figure a lot of things out. I need to figure out how I will display my lovely creations. I need to get a seller's permit through the IRS (that one should be fun). I need to find out if I need a business license. I need to print postcards to have at my booth if I have one. I need to make signs and tags. I have to figure out decorations that will help my booth stand out and be appealing to the passers by. I need to get a thing to read credit cards that will attach to my super clever phone. This list sure is getting long! Holy guacamole!






 If anyone has any tips on selling at a craft fair please let me know!

Well, if you need me, I'll either be at Trader Joe's, running around like a mad person or somewhere with a bunch of yarn!

truth

 It is true. I really do.

I love how silly and clever this is. I would absolutely hire this octopus if ever an octopus need were to arise.

i won

On the same day that I announced a winner for the jennasaurus giveaway I received an Etsy message informing me that I, too, had won something! Having not actually entered anything I was, of course, completely surprised. I had won a contest by simply following a fellow Etsy seller on Twitter and Facebook. I was the lucky winner and today I got my prize in the mail! I am SOOO excited about it!

I won a lovely, fabric, jewelry organizer in a print of my choice. I got to browse their super darling shop and immediately one jumped out to me. I let them know which one I wanted and they packaged it and sent it to me all the way from Canada. Yippee!

 Normally, if I want to take jewelry with me on a trip I toss it in my makeup bag. Or maybe a ziplock or some other small pouch. When I actually want to wear something it can become a process of untangling and searching for matching sets. In other words, it is the part of the TV infomercial that's black and white and completely frazzled.

With this everything has a place and it looks so gosh darn cute. No more tangled messes for me! Necklaces, I am not afraid of you!

There is even a handy little loop so you can hang it on a hook for easy access. Neat! Really, you should check these out. You can find them on Etsy at

vic & albie.

I cannot wait to take my new organizer somewhere. In the meantime, I am putting a bunch of stuff in it just to keep it nice here at home.

Thanks vic & albie! I LOVE my organizer!!

soup

My husband just got a new (to him) toy. An iPad to be exact. I urged him to get one so that he can easily take his design school work with him everywhere. When he is not using it I get to play a bit too. I won't be designing any new, innovating products. But I may occasionally doodle a silly little picture like this.

The onion is thrilled, the carrot is skeptical.

Tonight we are making a soup in the crock pot. We don't really have a recipe. We'll just toss a bunch of stuff in and hope that it tastes great in a few hours. We will also hope it doesn't taste too great because we won't know how exactly to recreate it. One thing I know is that there will be an onion and some cut up baby carrots in it. Yay!

stuck on mariah

 I was at work the other day when an old Mariah Carey song came on. Instantly I was transported to about the 5th grade. I could remember learning the lyrics to "Hero" in my elementary school's choir to sing at the 6th grade graduation ceremony.

I could remember being so excited to have it on CD and not just a tape like the rest of my tiny music collection. I could remember singing along to the songs of her Music Box album with my sister, Katie, and cousin, Lauren. We would spend hours listening to the same songs over and over again.






We would listen to Mariah while we organized and traded stickers. Yes. We were that cool. Mariah Carey, as it turns out, goes very well with sticker collecting. For me, the two are very much connected.

Did anyone else go this crazy over stickers? After hearing the song at work I went home and found my old sticker books. They aren't as full as they used to be. I blame this mostly on my years as a preschool teacher. Kids love stickers. Even kids that have access to their mom's iPhone. They still want stickers. Plus, peeling and sticking stickers is an excellent fine motor exercise.

Looking through these sticker albums reminded me of how crazy I got about organizing them. I had pages for fuzzy stickers, specific spots for holographic stickers and even a section for cats. If I had a sticker that fit into two categories, say a fuzzy sticker that was a cat, I would place it based on whichever category was my favorite (fuzzy obviously).

And, of course, let's not forget the star of the stickering community, Lisa Frank. She made the best of the best stickers. Stickers that made 9 year old girls everywhere swoon.

Life sure was grand when it was full of dolls, pogs, cartoons and stickers.

yum

Today was a rainbow sherbet kind of day.

I am so glad there's a rite-aide right next door to where I work. Convenient.

bark

I don't really have much to say about this. I just thought that it is so beautiful and had a strong desire to share it with somebody somewhere. So you are my somebody and this is my somewhere. I hope you are having a lovely Wednesday.

and the winner is...

Happy birthday Etsy page! One year ago today I posted my very first batch of crocheted lovelies. And what an amazing year it has been. Yesterday I sold my 51st item. Not bad for year one. I am excited to see what the next year has in store for me.

Thank you to everyone that helped me celebrate this occasion!

I had 31 comments on my giveaway post... that means 31 different entries. With the help of my handy dandy random generator I got a completely random number which corresponds to a comment and also our winner. Lucky number 5! 

Congratulations Sara Shay of Your Thriving Family! I will be sending you your new monster coffee cozy in the next couple of days. I hope you love it!

You should check out Sara's sight! She writes about how her family is thriving and not just surviving. She is a wise woman and has lots to share so stop on by and say hello!

poppie, the romantic

My grandfather, who I gave the name of Poppie to, was a hopeless romantic.

In the Spring of 1954 my grandmother, Patrica Jean Osborne, took a ship across the Atlantic to visit my grandfather, Chester Carl Ambrose, where he served in Germany.

This is the letter that Poppie wrote to Grandma. An envelope for each day of her journey to visit her fiance.

 Each envelope was a delightful surprise. Sometimes funny. Always heartfelt.

 He used official forms and letterhead. Filled them out to make her laugh...

To make her feel loved.




Some were very saucy. They made me blush. They made me wish I had known more about their courtship and early life.

"Just to make it official- Here it is in triplicate- I love you"

 The last letter she opened was written in April of 1954 and read on May 24, 1954. It went as follows:

My dearest Pat,

    With the ring that you now have on your finger goes all my love. I probably didn’t get the right words in their proper place so here it is in writing.    
    A diamond they say is nothing more than carbon. The only reason that it has come about is because of conditions of pressure & heat. It is priceless because it is rare. A lesson of life can be drawn from this. If two people like the elements that make up the diamond are jointed and can adjust to each other the end result can be just as rare and beautiful.
     But remember that the diamond is nothing but a rough stone. Only after it is cut & chipped to show its many sides does it gain its beauty & sparkle. We are that rough stone with as much to offer as the diamond. Let us with help of each other gain the finished product. First our love, a family and always, the sparkle that I know we will always have.    
 
With all my love,

        Chet

This amazing love story is one that evolved into a strong and happy marriage that lasted for over 50 years. They had three children and six grandchildren. They set an example of what a family should look like and how a couple should love and support each other. Their home was filled with laughter and warmth and always had an open door. I wish that everyone could have such a wonderful example of love in their life. I am truly blessed to be a part of such a lovely legacy and family.

knock, knock

Blake and I went for a walk to our favorite coffee shop the other day. I didn't work until 3pm and it is only a mile and a half from our place. Plenty of time to enjoy the lovely day, some coffee and each other. I love walking. It is a great, easy way to get exercise. Blake and I always end up talking about all sorts of stuff that would never have fit into a short car ride. It helps you to appreciate a beautiful day.

Even when walking a familiar path, you see so much more when you are moving at a nice, slow pace. On our walk back we found this door. We have probably driven past it a hundred times. This was the first time I had ever noticed it. So, yeah, walking... I highly recommend it.

You have until midnight tonight to enter my GIVEAWAY. Don't delay!